Jaguars vs Chargers AFC Wild Card preview

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Jacksonville, Florida (PSF) — As the NFL season comes to an end with the start of the post season, this season has seen many highs and lows for the different franchises. From discussions of players health and safety to teams underperforming expectations this has been a season to remember. As wild card weekend starts this Saturday, there are a few key matchups that will be ones to highlight.

The opening game for the AFC takes place Saturday night as Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars host Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers.

#4 Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville comes into this matchup with a record of 9-8 finishing first in the AFC South. Their success in free agency helped them to add key players to their roster including Christian Kirk, who was acquired from the Arizona Cardinals on a four year seventy-two million dollar deal. Kirk was crucial to this Jaguars offense ending the regular season with 1,108 receiving yards with 8 receiving touchdowns on the year. Other key weapons for the young first overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence are second year running back Travis Etienne Jr, who accumulated 1,125 total rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns on the season, and former New York Giants TE Evan Engram who totaled 766 Receiving yards with 4 receiving touchdowns. Going into this matchup, the Jaguars offense ranks 12th in total passing yards, 14th in total rushing yards, and 11th in total touchdowns scored in the regular season. While the Jaguars ended the season hot winning seven of their last eight games of the regular season, the key to success is to let Trevor Lawrence control the game. Lawrence has been pivotal to the team’s success this season and he is the engine that drives this team. Inexperience could play a factor as this is his first career playoff appearance; the Jaguars need him to show up if they want to advance in the playoffs.

Defensively, the Jaguars have shown improvement in comparison to seasons prior. In the 2021 season the Jaguars ranked 20th in the NFL in total defense and struggled with stopping opposing teams from scoring where they ranked 28th in points allowed per game with an average of 26.9 points allowed per game (PPG). This year they have seen progress with the likes of Josh Allen, Foyesade Oluokun, and rookie Travon Walker being key players in this defense. While the Jaguars have still struggled at points in the season defensively, there has been progress that is evident statistically. They rank 12th this season in points allowed now only allowing 20.6 PPG which is 6.3 PPG decrease from the 2021 NFL season. They have also improved with their rushing defense ranking 12th overall and only allowing an average of 114.8 rushing yards per game. However, their success in the rushing game does not carry over in their pass defense as they rank 27th in the NFL allowing an average of 238.5 passing yards a game from opposing quarter backs. If the Jaguars want to be successful against the Chargers, they will need a big game from their secondary.

#5 Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers came into the 2022 season with a lot of excitement and pressure around their team. Star QB Justin Herbert had just come off a fantastic season passing for 5,014 yards and throwing for 38 touchdowns. Although Herbert had put up an amazing season coming into the 2022 season, there were many questions about Head Coach Brandon Staley. The Chargers had not made the playoffs in Staley’s time as Head Coach, and there was a concern that he would be relieved of his duties if their situation did not improve. Los Angeles’s main issue from the 2021 season was their defense, so they spent big in free agency to replenish it. The Chargers acquired J.C. Jackson from the New England Patriots, Justin Jones from the Chicago Bears, Kyle Van Noy from the New England Patriots. The Chargers also made a blockbuster trade for Chicago Bears star linebacker Khalil Mack who was signed on a 6 year 141 million-dollar deal to be the star of the defense. After the big offseason, the Chargers were considered one of the more promising teams in the AFC and a team that looked to compete with the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC West division title.

The Chargers started the season off slow with a record of 1-2 with losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and upcoming opponent Jacksonville Jaguars. The main issue that faced the Chargers team was a rib injury that QB Justin Herbert was playing with. Having to deal with dislocated ribs caused issues for the third-year quarter back as his accuracy and arm strength drastically regressed during the weeks that followed. Herbert was not the only key player who faced injuries for the Chargers this season. Kennan Allen suffered a hamstring injury in their Week 1 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Allen made a small cameo in the Week 7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but did not see a normal number of targets until their Week 11 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. Allen’s injury forced the Chargers pass game primarily go through running back Austin Ekeler and wide receiver Mike Williams. Another big injury was a kneecap injury that ended the season of J.C Jackson in Week 7 against the Seattle Seahawks. The injury was a hit to their defense losing arguably one of their best corner backs.

While battling through injuries across all sides of the ball the Chargers were still able to find success. The team finished the season with a record of 10-7 and a spot in the AFC Wild Card game. Along with an impressive record, their offense shined this season with Herbert ranking second in the NFL with 4,739 passing yards, and the offense overall being ranked 9th in the league. However, defensive injuries proved to be a downfall to this team with the Chargers finishing with the 20th ranked defense in the NFL.

But who moves on to the next round of playoffs?

While both teams have shined at different points in this season, only one team is able to advance in the playoffs. It will be important to see how the young Jaguars offense is able to compete against a team of more veteran players. All in all, I feel that the passing game of the Chargers will be too much for the Jaguars to handle. My score prediction is 31-14 in favor of the Los Angeles Chargers. All questions will be answered when both teams take the field this Saturday night at 8:15 pm EST.