5 Jaguars players to watch vs. the Bills in Week 5
Last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars won their first of back-to-back London games. This week, although marked as an away game, Jacksonville remains in London to take on a much more formidable opponent: the Buffalo Bills.
The Jaguars bounced back in Week 4 against the Atlanta Falcons. The defense allowed a season-low seven points, and the offense scored its most points since Week 1.
But their game against the Bills is sure to be more of a challenge.
Here are five Jaguars to watch in their Week 5 matchup against the Bills:
WR Christian Kirk
Wide receiver Christian Kirk didn’t look like his 2022 self in Week 1. However, he’s returned to form since the quiet season-opener.
In the past three weeks, Kirk has a combined 23 catches, 248 yards and a touchdown. While Jacksonville would surely love to get wide receiver Calvin Ridley more involved, Kirk was the primary weapon last season and could be the key to getting the offense clicking.
While Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White suffered an achilles injury last week, the Bills defense still has formidable players. Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde are an elite safety duo, but Buffalo doesn’t have many viable options at corner.
If Poyer and Hyde play off line of scrimmage, Kirk could be one of the beneficiaries of the Bills’ weaker cornerback room.
RB Travis Etienne Jr.
Running back Travis Etienne Jr. is coming off a weak performance against the Falcons. Etienne earned 23 touches but only managed 72 yards, including 2.8 yards per rush.
The Jaguars need Etienne in order to keep up with Buffalo’s high-powered offense. Without Etienne, Jacksonville will rely on its passing attack; with him, the team has a multi-dimensional offense that could hurt the Bills on all levels.
Buffalo has a talented defensive line with Greg Rousseau, Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones and Leonard Floyd. The Bills are allowing a league-worst 6.3 yards per carry, though.
Etienne will be important in getting the most out of Jacksonville’s offense.
LB Chad Muma
Linebacker Chad Muma had a less-than-ideal week against the Falcons, but his team has confidence in him to improve.
Starting linebacker Devon Lloyd suffered a hand injury and missed last week’s game, and he will also meet the matchup with the Bills. So Muma will be back in the starting lineup this week.
His tackling and run defense were a struggle against the Falcons, but he still tallied seven total tackles, two hurries, and two pass deflections. Bills running back James Cook has had a good start to the year, and Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen can hurt defenses on the ground and through the air.
Muma’s job only gets more difficult, but he needs to play better to help mitigate the Bills’ explosive offense.
OLB Josh Allen
Linebacker Josh Allen is coming off another strong performance. And he gets the opportunity to do it again against the man sharing his name.
Allen had his second three-sack performance of the season against Atlanta, giving him six sacks on the season.
The Jaguars’ Allen has been the team’s best pass rusher this season, and they’ll need to get pressure on the Bills’ Allen to disrupt the Buffalo offense.
CB Darious Williams
Cornerback Darious Williams had one of the highlight plays last week when he returned an interception to the house against the Falcons. He played well against Atlanta and has done a good job on the outside.
While Williams has been one of the key parts of Jacksonville’s defense, He faces a team with star receiver Stefon Diggs next. Outside of Diggs, the Bills will trot out Gabe Davis, Dawson Know and Dalton Kincaid.
Williams won’t do much to slow the tight ends, but he will have plenty of matchups against Diggs and Davis.
