For the second consecutive year, the Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Unlike in their last few meetings, however, there will be a new signal-caller behind center in first overall pick Joe Burrow, who has been as advertised when kept upright.

Both teams should come into this game in desperation mode as a win would put the Jags at .500, while the Bengals would avoid sustaining the dreaded zero-win quarterly start that has crushed the playoff chances of many teams. For Doug Marrone, it would also slow down the hot seat discussions that would come from a loss and give Jags fans somewhat of a reason to have faith in registering a respectable season.

As always, there will be several keys Marrone and the Jags need to focus on if they are to win this afternoon, and here are the three we feel will be the most important when the Battle of the Felines kicks off in Cincy:

The defense can’t put the team at an early disadvantage

It’s not exactly shocking when looking at what they’ve lost, but the Jags defense simply hasn’t been good aside from Week 1. In the Jags’ last game, the unit was shredded by Ryan Fitzpatrick and then Ryan Tannehill the week before, neither of which are in the top-2 tiers of quarterbacks.

The unit’s play especially hurt the team during Thursday Night Football Week 3, allowing the Dolphins to score touchdowns in their first two drives. Of course, with the team being down 14-0, the gameplan had to be altered, and typically when that happens, teams struggle.

Simply put, Todd Wash’s unit can’t allow Burrow and company to get off to such a hot start because it could once again prove to be costly. The veteran coordinator will have the luxury of facing a struggling offensive line that has allowed Burrow to be hit frequently, so there is absolutely no excuse to get it done Week 4.

After a week in which the staff stressed fundamentals, it will be interesting to not only see how the Jags pass rush fares, but how their young corners respond, too. Tre Herndon has had a lackluster season and CJ Henderson will be coming off of a rough Week 3 showing where he allowed five catches on five targets for 62 yards and a touchdown. Simply put, the staff is hoping both can get their hands on more balls, and Burrow won’t be shy when it comes to testing them.

Get off to a fast start on offense

Sure the defense put them in a hole early, but that doesn’t excuse how lost the unit looked without DJ Chark Jr. Week 3. Due to his experience, many were hoping that receiver Chris Conley would step up last Thursday night against the Dolphins, but the drop issues he had in 2019 resurfaced. The remainder of the receivers on the staff were quiet as well and the offense finished Week 3 with more garbage time stats than anything else.

Luckily, Chark is back and it should be a tremendous help. He and quarterback Gardner Minshew II are one of the better deep bawl tandems in football and they need to show it Sunday. That may be easier said than done because the Bengals are actually sound against the pass, ranking third in the category, allowing an average of only 217.3 yards per game.

Get James Robinson going early and often

While the Bengals passing defense looks to be a good one, they’ve struggled against the run. In fact, they will enter Week 4’s game next to last in the category, allowing an average of 181.7 yards per game.

That’s certainly not where a team wants to be with the Jags most consistent player of 2020 being running back James Robinson, who was named offensive rookie of September this week. With his phenomenal start to the season, he became the only undrafted player in NFL history to garner at least 300 scrimmage yards and multiple touchdowns through three career games.

When adding in the fact that the Bengals will be without Geno Atkins Sunday, it feels like it would only be right to lean on Robinson this week to get the Jags going. In return, it will not only keep Burrow off the field, but it would present opportunities for Chark and company to take advantage of the aforementioned Bengals passing defense.

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