Three Things to Watch: Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets
The Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets meet Saturday Night and NFL writer Andrew Garda is here to give you the low-down on what to watch.
By andrewgarda
This isn't going to be a highly watched game—even in Jacksonville or New York (or New Jersey). That said, there are a few things to keep an eye on tonight at 7:30pm EST.
Here are three of them.
1) The quarterback battle for the Jets is fascinating. Not so much the battle itself, as neither player has been all that revelatory. No, the interesting thing is the media reaction, which has been quick to point out Geno Smith's bad days, while somehow not killing Mark Sanchez for his. I've long though Sanchez would win this job and comments about his "outstanding preseason" were reinforcing that even before this past week. Geno Smith isn't playing tonight, so Sanchez gets the spotlight against a defense which will not be confused with the "Monsters of the Midway." If Sanchez repeats his first series pick-six from last week though, Smith could end up with another shot at the starting gig.
2) Speaking of quarterback play—the spotlight on Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne wasn't decreased by the paltry efforts last week against the Miami Dolphins. The Jets defense probably won't give them all that much room to move either—the front seven of the Jets looks tough and the corners can cover. The Jaguars have a lot of issues on both sides of the ball, but none more serious than the spot under center.
3) Chris Ivory is finally going to play in a Jets jersey and it's not hyperbole to say this is one of the more important aspects of the game for the Jets. Without him their offense and ground game has been lackluster and they traded for him in April in the hopes he could be a huge factor in the coming season. However, Ivory is often hurt—and in fact has never been healthy for a whole season—so missing most of camp and some of the preseason is a concern. How he looks tonight will determine if the Jets can breath a sigh of relief.
Andrew Garda is a member of the Pro Football Writers Association. He is also a member of the fantasy football staff at Footballguys.com and an NFL writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him at @andrew_garda on Twitter.
