Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills Odds
The Buffalo Bills will try to find the win column for the first time this season when they host the 2-2 Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday. Defeating a Jacksonville team that shocked the Indianapolis Colts last week will be no easy task, but NFL odds makers are giving Buffalo a fighting chance. They have listed the Bills as a pick with the total set at 41 this week.
After back-to-back 25-point losses, the Jaguars pulled off a 31-28 win over the Colts thanks to a 59-yard Josh Scobee field goal as time expired. In order to build on that potentially season-changing victory, they’ll need to avoid a letdown this week.
One has to like Jacksonville’s chances here if quarterback David Garrard can duplicate his Week 4 performance. Last Sunday, Garrard completed 17 of 22 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 44 yards and another score on the ground.
But is that the Garrard that will show up? The previous two weeks, he only completed 52.8 percent of his passes while throwing only one touchdown and five interceptions.
But considering Buffalo ranks dead last in the league in scoring defense (allowing 31.2 points per game), Garrard shouldn’t be lacking any confidence. It is also to his benefit that the Bills are yet to intercept a single pass this season.
While Garrard must continue his efficient play, Maurice Jones-Drew and the running game could be the key to victory this week. The Bills sadly claim the worst run defense in the NFL, surrendering 174.0 yards per game on the ground.
Jones-Drew gashed Indy for a season-high 105 yards on 26 totes, and he will be looking to best that performance Sunday.
Jacksonville backers will like to know that Buffalo is just 3-12 against the spread in its last 15 home games.
Jacksonville has lost its only road game this season, and it also endured a loss in its last trip to Buffalo. That loss took place four years ago when a Rian Lindell field goal did the Jags in.
While Jacksonville appears to be the better team, one has to expect Buffalo to leave it all on the field Sunday. After all, the Bills are trying to avoid their first 0-5 start in 25 years. In order to avoid an 0-5 start, the offense must perform better than it did last week.
After a positive 30-point effort two weeks ago in New England, the Bills only managed 223 yards and 14 points in a 24-point loss to the New York Jets last Sunday.
Finding offense could be a little bit more difficult this week after trading leading rusher Marshawn Lynch to Seattle. Lynch rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons and was Buffalo’s leading rusher this year.
With Lynch out of the picture, Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller will take on bigger roles. Jackson is off to a slow start, rushing for just 87 yards so far, after racking up 1,062 last season. Spiller has just 49 yards rushing, but he has only received 14 carries. In my opinion, a game-breaker like Spiller needs to see a lot more of the football.
When the Bills decided to part ways with Trent Edwards, who is now Jacksonville’s backup, in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, they were hoping it would be an upgrade. Fitzpatrick didn’t look like much of an upgrade last week when he completed just 44.0 percent of his throws for 128 yards.
While Jacksonville did cover the number last week, it has been one of the worst against the spread teams in the NFL recently. In fact, the Jaguars are just 4-12 against the spread in their last 16 games overall.
