Welcome into jags AM On Thursday, November ninth, Pennie Stephens, fran Sexton, John Osier with me today this week ten. We're talking forty nine ers. We've been excited for this game, definitely one you circled on the calendar early on when you saw some of the marquee matchups for this team, and seems like Fortinitars are getting healthy too, so it should be a good kind of marker game, kind of see where they're at their start study team.
I mean when you look at the roster and the names, whether it's George Pittle, CMC right we just three initials, right, or whin knows, Christian McCaffrey, and of course of the defense. So it's no surprise that tickets are hard to come by and they're selling stating room only. People know the forty nine ers, and it brings out a lot of folks who may be casual things.
Yeah. I know, Doug talked this week about it not being a quote statement game, and I kind of like the message because I think he's tired of talking about a statement game. They've won what eleven out of thirteen games, they've beaten the Bills, they've beaten the Steelers, They've beaten the Cowboys during that I mean, how many statements do you need to make before you sit? They're are making a statement game and nobody hears you. So I think to him, this is Look, we're a good team. They're
a good team. But I think not only from a national perspective, which I'm kind of worn out on trying to talk that national perspective, but from a showing you what they are in the locker room. San Francisco can really run. They're a powerful team. The Jaguars have spent the last what sixteen games ish being a stout defense, being a physical team, but they don't quite have that reputation you since you go Mano Amano and stuff this team out physical them, then you do have that reputation.
So and I think they can prove that to themselves, not that they are have it already, but maybe they can say something to themselves about that. Improve that once and for all.
Let's go over some of our big things this week. Big thing number one, thrush is going to be understand the assignment. As we mentioned, there's a lot of big names on the forty nine ers, a lot of star players, but a lot of this is gonna come down to doing your job and understanding the assignment.
You've got to play eleven on eleven right, and and you know it's about our pieces against their pieces and how best we can maneuver our guys and try to create some matchups somewhere and and and yet you just know that you know these guys are gonna make plays.
You know they're gonna they're.
Gonna make up tackle for loss, or they're gonna get a sack, or they may you know, break up a pass or something like that. But it doesn't keep you from continuing to try right and execute your game plan. So good players give them their respect, and you know you.
Still got to play.
Brian Doug talking a lot about you know, understanding that they have star players. They're gonna make plays, they're gonna get sacks, they're gonna get tackles for loss, whatever it's going to be, and you kind of need to allow that but also stick to the game plan that you have.
But it's gonna be a tough one.
They've had a couple of weeks to get ready for this now with a buy and the coaches will have a plan, right, Doug in the offense you have a lot of confidence in because you know, and the defense now you should have a lot of confidence in. You know, last year you had a first year coordinator and they
were kind of working through things. But talking to players in the locker room, especially Josh Allen yesterday, you know, they have a lot of confidence in Mike cold Well in that staff now, and they feel like Mike and his staff have the confidence in them to go out and run the plays that are called. So what you really have is to do your job. Situation here, they've got a game plan. If you do your job, you have a chance to succeed.
With so much of an offense like the forty nine ers because they put pressure everywhere in the running game and they have so many options in the running game, meaning I'm McCaffrey, Deebo, Samuel, these guys can do different things. What offenses like that thrive on is usually defenses think they have to do too much to stop them, and they're jumping out of lanes. The Jaguars defense, if it's to me, if it's defined by anything, it's that you
have one superstar player. Maybe Josh Allen, you know, is ascending to that, but everybody else, Devin, Lloyd Foyer, Rashawn Jenkins. You started listening off guys. They're all good, and I think they're confident sort of what you said, Brian. They don't feel like they have to do much special to stop teams, so I think they can play assignment football and all those cliches the top of the guys in
the locker room. They believe that if they play their game, they don't have to do anything special to win this or stop this really good forty nine ers offense. That to me is the matchup.
Here's why do your job is so important. We talked about it yesterday.
You have a coach and Kyle Shanahan who is so gifted at moving personnel groups and creating mismatches and giving you Hey, it looks like we're doing this, and everything says we're doing this, But now we're doing this. That's where they do your job comes in because Mike and
Doug they will have everything figured out. They will know exactly what the tendencies are and it's about Hey, like John just said, don't get anxious to think, well, I'm gonna jump over here, because I can make the play and then watch it go over here instead.
It's nice to see the narrative switch a little bit to Jaguars play Jaguars football. We should be able to win the game. You don't have to try to cater to the other teams. It's a good spot to be at. Big thing Number two is going to be stop the run. We've talked about Christian McCaffrey and he is talented so many ways. You also have to stop him yards after catch as well, and Doug talked a little bit about why Christian McAffrey is so dangerous.
You can put him anywhere anywhere in a formation, backfield, put out wide motion him, you know, jet sweep, you put him anywhere. He's just that type of player. Give him the hand him the ball, throw him the ball, screens down the field, just an overall solid player and you have to account for him. And then you know it's hard to get him on the ground. You know he can break tackles, he's strong, you know, physical back that you know does some really good things.
So we know Rock Cerry's been having some issues the last couple of weeks, but Christian McCaffrey has just been so dynamic for that team, and he's dangerous in a lot of different ways.
Well, he's dangerous because to me, he's up I think one of the first players since Marshall Fulk really who can is just as good a receiver as he is a running back and vice versa. The reason he's so dangerous is you can do your job really well on a play and he can still beat you. You can do your job ninety eight percent and he can take advantage of the two percent that you don't do because he's so quick, his vision's so good. He's in everything running back. So I expect him to score because he
usually does seventeen straight games. Yeah, I expect him to be effective. But guess what, they've lost some of those games where he scored. So he can be effective and you can still win this game. You have to keep him from being the fantasy football stat guy this week.
Well, here's the fantasy football stats for me.
In the last four games, he has six touchdowns, three rushing, three receiving, and in each of the last two games he has one of each. So he's a multipurpose threat.
And they've still lost. No, No, you can still beat that. Well, you can beat them.
The problem for them, a problem for the Jaguars this week is is Deebo Samuel's coming back, and that's we saw him last year two years ago. Here eight rushes for eighty nine yards in a touchdown. So now they've got that two headed monster. So I'm thankful this week that you have Devon Hamilton back. We saw him in some limited action against the Steelers and they look pretty good.
Now he's having even more time to get integrated into the defense because you're gonna need a rotation because if you don't stop the run, and Josh said this, you know is Sodi Rayshawn yesterday in the locker room. If you don't stop the run, you have no prayer of getting to the quarterback none. And if you get to the quarterback, you can force turnovers. That's what they're trying to get to. This kid's got six turnovers in the last three games. So they got to stop the run
to be able to attack him. And they know what Deebo Samuel back this week that that job, which was already difficult, just got much much harder.
Definitely a hallmark of the Jaguars defense though, So there is hope there. I mean, if they get off schedule, they can't stop the run. That's we're way off the plantation by that point. Where league by that point.
Giving up less than eighty yards rushing per game, they're playing fantastic. Every indication is they'll be able to stop the run. Now, they might not hold them to their average seventy nine point three, but if they can control it right, I mean, they never could be one hundred and thirty yards by the time the game is over. But if they can control it in the situations where they need to to set a third and long, fine,
will know, no matter what the stats say. Will know on Sunday after the Jags walk off the field, if they stop the run. The numbers won't tell the story. You'll know it with your eyes.
Our final big thing this week is going to be make your house your Home. The Jaguars are six and two so far on the season. They've won five games in a row, but they haven't played their best football at home, and that's something Dan Peterson, head coach of this team, says he's got to change.
You know, first thing, the schedule gets a little more normal for us here in the last half of the season. You know, we haven't played our best football at home, which is crazy. You know, those two early games that that we didn't we didn't play very well, and you know, those are all things that we have to we have to do better. Right we're playing in front of our fans.
We're at home, you know, our stadium, our locker room, and we've got to feed off the energy obviously the crowd and and uh and play our best football, you know, and and especially in the second half of the season.
That's something that you know, if if you want that home field.
Advantage or try to play for home field advantage, you got to do it at home.
That's why they call it home field advantage. So you know, we've just got to we've just got to focus in on that and and just continue to improve.
Brian, we've talked, you know, it's great that the team can play so well away from home, but they talked a little bit about putting a good product on the field to the fan to have something sure about because two of those home games we had this season have been tough.
I go back to the last two games of last year. They are a prime time now right against Tennessee and against the Chargers. The crowd was insane and it sent a message.
To the rest of the league.
I probably don't want to go there and play because it's a very difficult place when it's all riled up there were the Texans game is a rough one, you know, because you wanted to come out and play well and establish your dominance early and give it the chance, the fans a chance to get into it. The Colts was better, but Sunday's a chance because there will be a national
audience wash right, it's a premier game. There will be a lot of new eyes on this place, and it's a chance for them to see what a tough place this can be. The Gicks, you've got to play well to get the fans into the game, to make it go well for them. But it's an important thing when you especially consider you've got the Titans coming up, and you've got the Bengals in the raven You've got some big games here at home. You need to get the crowd juiced up and get them ready for those.
Yeah.
I don't know they're gonna win or lose this week, and the Jags, I don't really worry about them playing well at home. I kind of attribute the Chiefs and the Texans to me was more about early season working through some stuff than it was not being able to play well at home. They showed me last year they can play well at home and take advantage of this. They won what their last five here, so I attribute. I mean, I'm not saying they don't need to go get it done, but I don't really worry that they
have a problem playing at home. I thought those first two games were more about them trying to figure out coming back from last year, trying to figure out what they were, etc. Etc. So I hope they go prove me.
Right on Sunday.
I do think if I'm the coach, I make the point that Doug made it, which is, hey, we want to play well here. We didn't play well against the Texans, forget where it was, right, but we want to play here.
So let's have an emphasis of getting these guys involved.
Well. They want to establish that because you got the Ravens the big game. Basically, you hold sir the rest of the way at home, home, and when one or two on the road and you're set. So they've got it in front of them in terms of that.
A lot of primetime eyes on this game too, because I think seventy five percent of the country's gonna have this as their one o'clock games, so it'll be very national stage for everybody. It's a good one first of several big games for the day.
Stay with us.
We're gonna hear from QB one coming up after the break. We're getting ready for the forty nine ers to come to town. It's nice to be back home, play some home games in front of the home crowd, and we expect to be a big one coming off a bye week. Both of these teams should be well rested, should be healthy as they can be at this point in the season. And Trevor Lawrence talked a little bit about taking that time away but then also getting back into game mode once you got back in the building.
We still feel that momentum, that energy that we that we left with, you know when we took the week off. But you gotta find a way to kind of get that edge back because it is, you know, you're kind of relaxing, getting your body back underneath you. You have to. It's a long season. We played, you know, eight tough games in a row and then now we got a nice stretch, so you got to give your body a
chance to rest. But now it's today in practice, and it started on Monday, really, had we had a lighter practice and just getting that getting our legs back under us and getting that edge and practicing hard, that's where it starts. You can't just walk out there Sunday and expect to expect to play with that edge if you didn't all week in practice. So I think that's where it starts really today and as we practice every day of the week.
John, when we look at these two teams, they're both going into a bye, but in different ways. Jaguars five winners of five straight, the forty nine lost three, and kind of the break probably meant different things to those teams. But the refocused energy when you come back is really because you're not carrying momentum at this point. It's it's kind of starting over a little bit.
Yeah, for the Jags, it meant I mean, didn't it feel like they were just pulling and trying to get to that buy through this tough stretch and just thinking if we can just get through this, gotcha, thank goodness because it was hard and even Evan Ingram talked about in the locker room on Thursday, Man, I feel like we've been away from this place forever. One reason the
Doug is such a good coach. Doug Peterson. He talked about what Trevor was talking about, and the thing that struck me yesterday was when he spoke about needing to get back to play in with energy for four quarters. And I'm not saying it right, but that intensity level that you need to win in the NFL. And I don't think he thought that they had it early in the season, and then they got it for five games. He talked about it, players talked about it in the
locker room. He's clearly emphasizing that, hey, we've got to get back to what we were doing, not only physically but mentally. The energy, the focus, all that stuff. It's why he's the head coach, Brian. He's really good at emphasizing the right things, and that feels like something that they need to give back to because boy, did they have it for five games for the buy.
I can just tell you, you know, my conversations with guys yesterday, there's an energy level for this game on Sunday.
They're excited.
Cam Robinson in particular, I spent some time with him for a pregame radio interview and he's really you know. I was asking him about the challenge of the Niners, and I mean he's like, I'm ready for it. He goes, I love. I live for Sundays where I'm going to be challenged. He says, I faced the best in the NFL over the course of my career. Then every Sunday, I love it. But this is a challenge and I'm
really excited about it. And everyone I talked to shared that they love the idea that the Niners are coming in here. They don't love the idea that they're underdogs at home, but they love the idea that they've got a chance to go prove themselves on Sunday afternoon. They're excited to play these guys. There's Fere's not the right word.
There's no trumpidation at all. They're ready to go. To me, that was a really good sign backing up what Trevor was talking about, in other words, getting back here and getting to work. They're excited to get to work because they're excited to get.
And I'm not a big raw ra guy. You aren't locker room bulletin boards stuff, but I do think if if I'm the Jag and this team is really about team. I mean, in talking to players, it's a selfless team that cares about winning, and not all NFL teams feel the same way about that. And I think for them, they're three point underdogs, which means the world whatever that is, thinks the Niners are six points better. I do think that makes this a little bit of a you know what,
we won five in a row. I do wonder if that can come into play on Sunday.
I think some of the lack of you know, maybe national understanding where this team is at is because they haven't seen a huge jump out of Trevor Lawrence because they're not watching it. You know, if you just look at the box score, you're not watching the game, probably not seeing what Trevor Lawrence has been able to do for this team. And Trevor did talk about really wanting to get the offense going and put up a good offensive performance in this game.
We've been I think we've been a lot more consistent on just moving the ball, not stalling out as much. But then you see two weeks ago we have the we have the dumb turn turnovers that kind of kept Pittsburgh in the game and gave him a shot and didn't let us really take off and blow the game open. So it's something like that every week that we got to fix. So you know, you're hoping every week is
that week, and we're emphasizing it. We've got a lot of a lot of emphasis on the details of just not having turnovers, being better on third down and all those things play together, and having a clean game. And that's the idea is having a game where you can come out of it not any or many turnovers at all, being great on third down, scoring in the red zone. It'd be nice to you know, put all those together this week and against a good team like this, this
is the week to do it. You know, you gotta gotta play well against great teams.
Obviously, every week we're kind of hoping that's the week that we see the offense, you know, be to what we expect them to be. But they have been getting better.
They're consistent, and we've seen that complimentary football from this team, and Trevor talking a little bit about what they were able to do in Pittsburgh and you know, so shooting themselves on the foot at some points, and we're kind of hoping maybe got some of that energy out maybe that interception out of the way, so now we can turn the page here.
A turnovers the last four games. Change that and you have a better offensive showing in every game. But the other thing, and I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here. They're inconsistent on third down. Right, one week it's good, it's fifty percent. The next week it's horrible. It's thirty two percent. And they're averaging about thirty six percent on the season. They've got to get that number up.
They've got to be more efficient. They've got to be more consistent on third down and short if they are, and of course Trevor talked about this yesterday. He talked about not putting yourselves in third down. He goes, get a first down on first down, get a first down and second down, great, But when you do get to those third and short situations, for this offense to find a tempo rhythm, choose your adjective, they're just gonna stay on the field.
They need to be better on them.
Yeah, the thing that Doug really wants fixed going forward, and it's kind of self evident. Thirteen giveaways, which is second the league. Their third down and red zone are the twenty fifth, twenty six, whatever, it's not good and all that sort of ties together. It's all about those big moments. I wrote a story for the site for today. I don't remember the exact number, but it is an insane number of times this team that's driven past the
fifty and not gotten points this year. It's like twenty seven or twenty eight drives that they've gone inside the opponent's fifty. Well, start adding that up. That's three or four game. You get three or seven out of one of those, and all of a sudden, all this angst about the offense isn't there. My point is, it's not that they're not moving. It's not that they're not capable of moving, and they're there. It's that those big moments, those big things. It's certainly a It certainly got better
last year. I think it will get better moving forward. But that's what people are feeling about the offense.
Certainly feels like it's just right there, just almost there. We'll have to see if it comes together fully for us in the forty nine ers game. Stay with us after the break. We're gonna go over some of our game changers we think for the matchup. Welcome back, to jag z Am. We're here in the Hyundai studios and we're gonna talk a little bit about some of the
Jaguars players we have our eye on this week. So, Brian, when you're looking at who might do something in this game, who do you have your eye on?
Walker Little in particular. I think he is a guy who will it's the right way to put this, He'll be the difference maker on third and short, right, He'll be that guy he is He might be your best offensive lineman. I mean, I think he's tremendously talented. He's very athletic, he's very powerful. He won't be over matt By,
you know, bigger guys like Hargrave in Armstead. And I think he's that guy who will you know you'll be able to run behind him, You'll be able to He'll lift the play of Luke Fordner up and help them work through it and be more successful on third and short and keep drives alive.
I went with Foyer. Lukan he will play well because he always does. He's as consistent and I think he's playing better than last season. It seems to me like he has more tackles in that one in two yard range than he did last year. I think the overall
defense is playing better around him. He won't need to stop at forty nine of his offense all by himself, because I think the key for this game is what I said earlier, the fact that all eleven guys on this defense, they play so well together and it's rare
to see guys out of position. What's been remarkable to me about this defense is how often the running game can be a little hard to get a feel for when you're watching it, because if you're if you're getting the difference between three and four yards on first down
and one and two is a lot. The Jaguars, to me, have done a great job this year of stopping and all of a sudden you're in second and eight instead of second and six, and those two yards for down and distance or can be everything what you're trying to do. But he might he might make the Pro Bowl off this game, And what I mean by that is it's a national game up, you're gonna be watching it. He's already had the interception for a touchdown on national TVs.
People are aware of he's the league in tackles. Pro Bowl can be a reputation type thing. Have a big game in a game like this, or just get people talking about you in a game like this and all of a sudden, you know, it's a shame it works that way because he deserves it no matter how he plays on Sunday. But this is the kind of game they can put a middle linebacker. Oh, you're stopping the forty nine ers, So this is the kind of game they can make a reputation for a player like him.
Well, especially with Fred Warner on the other side for the Niners, they'll be talking about him. And if foyers playing well, you'll be You'll be in the same breath as a guy who is generally considered the best overall linebacker in football.
So that's good for him.
I went with Josh Allen. I think he's been having quite a season. I think he will get to Rock Purty on Sunday, and I think he won't let up in that regard because we've seen him gas out. He's if anybody need a bye, he gets. Josh Allen, what he's been able to do in the first half of
this season has been impressive. He's a man playing for a contract and he's earning every penny at this point, he might be the difference maker in this game because I think he'll either get a strip, sack, force of fumble, get an extra possession, and I think at the end of the day, it might come down to who's going to win the turnover battle in this game. Brian, we talked about Josh Allen needing to play well this season
and kind of earn that contract, if you will. But it's so impressive what he's been able to do, and I don't see him slowing down.
He might be the most consistent pass rusher in the league. And it seems ridiculous because t J. Watt's so very good and Nick Bose is so very good, but he leaves in the league with pressures, right, he can forty eight coming into this week, and he is just consistently there. And maybe it's because he doesn't see as many double teams as TJ. Watt as I don't know there are
reasons why, but I just he's really really good. And I think we take him for granted in Jacksonville because he's had some good and some bad bad it's the wrong word, he said, some good and some not as productive games. But he's got nine sacks near the top of the what a half a sack off the AFC League. Yeah, yeah, not very far. And he's got nine games left and you just you look and see where he could have a He could break Kalay's Campbell's I think single season
franchise record. You bet he was talking about it yesterday. That means something to him, because Kalais means something to him.
He's been underappreciated around here for a long time when you consider how important game situations are to sacks. From of his career, he's played on a team that's trailed by ten points a lot, and there are some years where it was insane how many double digit games they lost. It's hard to get sacks if the other team's not throwing. And if the other team doesn't have to throw. This year,
guess what, the Jaguars are better. His pressures are becoming sacks because there's more situations where he can do it. And I'm not take anything away from what he's done this year, but he's always been a good player and I'm ecstatic for him that it's showing up in the status sheet for him because he's a class act.
And I think you could have made the case going into the season there was a chance he might be somewhere else in twenty twenty four if Trayvon came on and had a big year, and if his numbers hadn't translated. But he's meant so much to this defense and its overall level of performance. I don't think there's any way he plays anywhere else.
I don't see how you don't.
It's all valuable.
Whatever it takes, they're going to create a creative way to work it all in and Josh Allen will be here long term.
You know why, Brian, because you trust him.
Yes, he's He's also the kind of per one in your locker room. He is a stand up. He's a good father, he's a good husband by all accounts. He's a good neighbor, he's a good teammate, and he's a good football player. Those guys the whole package don't come along that often, and we now see that he's the whole package. He's going to get a big contract to deserve it.
His ceiling is very high, but his floor is too. Even when he hadn't had these numbers, he's really really good on and off the field.
Integral part of this team, so happy to see him having as much success as he's having this season. Stay with us after the break, we'll go over our final predictions for the game and talk a little bit more. Forty nine ers.
The fans are going to be huge. I mean, obviously we've got a lot of momentum right now and they're a huge part of that. And just bringing that. You know, we've been really successful on the road this year. We need to start winning at home more and that's a big part of you know, with our fans as well, and I know that's what they're looking forward to seeing. So we just need all we can get all that home field advantage.
Trevor Lawren saying the Man cast, he's excited to be Jacksonville's quarterback, and he's excited to be at home play for the fans. Standing room only at this point for forty nine ers, but get out there if you can.
He always fit this town when he's playing at Clemson. Just everything about him screamed Jacksonville, and in talking to him back in the preseason for an interview before a preseason football game, he talked about how much and his wife love it here. It's just it's genuine and real and people can connect with him. He's the perfect quarterback for this town.
It should be a good one.
Are you guys?
Do you have game predictions for us?
Yeah? I think they win if they can get a couple of turnovers. I think they need the big plays energy from that. I think in this game you need to have Andre Cisco and leading the team on this thing that they do now when they get interception and they're running down and they're doing it, you know, and you got to see a way out of the defense for them to win this game. Maybe two maybe two okay, maybe two ways.
I have a good feeling about it.
I mean I can't say they are a certain score, you know, with the Niners and how well coached they are and how talented they are, they're's gonna go into the fourth quarter. I mean, you're not gonna run away from these guys and have a two touchdown lead with ten minutes to play.
So I just this team proved last year that they can win games late.
They've proven that they can overcome mistakes, especially with eight turnovers in the last four games and all of those being wins.
So I have a good feeling.
Just I think this is a really good team. I think I think this is as good a team as there is in the AFC. It might be the best team in the AFC. I mean, watching all the weekend and I know Kansas City and I know them well. I think this may be the best team in the AFC. And they should be able to beat the best team in the NFC, which is the Eagles right now, but you got to beat you.
Gotta beat the Niners.
And at one point at five and zer after they had clouded the Cowboys, everyone thought they were the best team in the NFL. They get all those players back, right, Deebo, Samuel, Trent Williams. They're all back, So this could be best versus best. Let's see what you got.
Absolutely gotta beat the next team on your schedule. I'm gonna I'm go with the Jags too, why not? And maybe this will be the breakout week for the offense too. Of course, we'll have you covered on game day with all of your coverage on Jaguars dot Com and then we'll be right back here on Jagxam on Monday to recap. Hopefully Jaguars win. Enjoy the game,