It wasn’t the start that the Jacksonville Jaguars or Urban Meyer wanted, but a humbling loss to the Texans has really increased the pressure ahead of this Sunday’s Week 2 clash against the Denver Broncos.
It’ll be Jags fans' first chance to see Trevor Lawrence in Duval but they’ll be facing an uphill battle and 6-point NFL betting home underdogs against the Broncos, who looked impressive in their season opener.
If you’re betting this game on Sunday, September 19, then make sure you read our NFL picks and predictions Broncos vs. Jaguars, with kickoff at 1 p.m. ET.
Broncos vs Jaguars odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The line has only moved marginally since opening, with the Broncos shifting from 6.5 to 6-point chalk. The total has risen from 44 to 45.5 since opening, most likely as a reaction to the 58 points scored in the Jags' defeat to Houston. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full NFL odds before placing your bets.
Broncos vs Jaguars picks
Picks made on 9/16/2021 at 10:21 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Broncos vs Jaguars game info
• Location: TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL
• Date: Sunday, September 19, 2021
• Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
• TV: CBS
Broncos at Jaguars betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NFL weather info.
Key injuries
Broncos: Jerry Jeudy WR (Out), Ronald Darby CB (Out), Graham Glasgow G (Out).
Jaguars: Tre Herndon CB (Out), Travis Etienne RB (Out), Lerentee McCray DE (Out), Jordan Smith LB (Out).
Find our latest NFL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Broncos are 5-1 ATS in their last six Week 2 games. Find more NFL betting trends for Broncos vs. Jaguars.
Broncos vs Jaguars predictions
Broncos -6 (-110)
Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say you got it wrong — and last week was one of those times. I was under no illusion that the Jaguars would have a tough season but it was hard for anybody to see such a bad defeat to the Texans coming in Week 1.
Since the post-mortem of that game, we’ve seen speculation about the future of Head Coach Urban Meyer, who was linked with the vacant USC job. When an NFL franchise is having to tweet about their HC staying and not moving to a collegiate team — in the second week of the season — alarm bells start to sound.
There were some positive elements to the Jags 37-21 defeat in Houston. Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes and made some throws that really showcased why he was the No. 1-overall pick this year. He had 28 completions on a staggering 51 passing attempts and despite Urban Meyer saying that wouldn’t happen again, we're quite skeptical of that with the likely game scripts the Jags will face this season.
It wasn’t Lawrence’s play under center which sunk the Jaguars, or the poor offensive line, or Meyer’s bizarre overlooking of RB James Robinson — it was the defense, which was a shadow of the unit once known as Sacksonville.
If the Jaguars defense struggled against Tyrod Taylor... then it is in trouble in Week 2 against Broncos' signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater, who looked surgical against the Giants last week.
We know Bridgewater has a somewhat low ceiling... but he also has a high floor and he immediately looked like a huge upgrade for the Broncos. They may be missing the injured Jerry Jeudy but the likes of Tim Patrick and KJ Hamler look primed to take a larger role in the offense alongside Courtland Sutton.
With Bridgewater playing well and a talented supporting cast, including what looked like a rejuvenated Melvin Gordon and a once-again ferocious defense, it’s hard to back anything but the Broncos here.
So take the six points and laugh all the way to the bank.
Over 45.5 (-110)
The total has moved steadily, from the opening 44 points to its current spot of 45.5 — and it might rise even more before Sunday's kickoff.
We can go through all the trends in the world — for example, the Over is 5-1 in the Broncos' last six against teams with losing records, or the Over is 6-1 in the Jaguars' last seven Week 2 games — but the eye test tells us everything we need to know.
If you saw these two teams last week then it’s hard (like, really, really hard) to see this being anything but a bloodbath. The Broncos looked a lot better than we expected and this Jaguars team looked significantly worse than even the strongest naysayers believed.
We see the game unfolding with the Broncos taking a commanding lead, before a couple of Jacksonville garbage-time touchdowns tack on more points onto the total — which will go Over 45.5.
James Robinson Under 62.5 total yards (-120)
What has Urban Meyer done to Jacksonville’s RB corps? Last year we saw undrafted free agent James Robinson breakout for the Jags, as his hard running style was genuinely impressive and he was one of the few positives in a 1-15 season.
Then Meyer arrived. The drafting of Travis Etienne indicated that Robinson wasn’t a huge part of Meyer’s plans to begin with, but after Etienne suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason, Week 1 saw Robinson and plodding journeyman Carlos Hyde split opportunities. Both had 11 carries and targets between them — it was truly shocking.
Robinson rushed for 25 yards on five carries, a more-than-respectable 5 yards per carry, and caught three passes for 29 yards. It’s mindblowing that he didn’t see more of the ball, even with the Jaguars playing catchup for the majority of the game.
This week we’ll likely see Meyer continue to put undeserved trust in Hyde, as well as the likelihood of again having to chase down a big deficit. For that reason, we're playing the Under on James Robinson's scrimmage yards Sunday.
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