Los Angeles @ Jacksonville preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 6, 2013 ) Jacksonville 20, St. Louis 34

The Jacksonville Jaguars are beginning to make believers with their swarming defense that recorded an eye-opening 10 sacks in the season opener and picked off Ben Roethlisberger five times in a 30-9 win at Pittsburgh last week. The Jaguars will look to slow down Jared Goff and the visiting Los Angeles Rams, who lead the NFC in scoring, when the two teams meet on Sunday.



While its defense continues to make headlines, rookie Leonard Fournette ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns for Jacksonville in its first win over Pittsburgh in a decade. The Jaguars, who returned two of Roethlisberger's interceptions for touchdowns last week, are over .500 after five games for the first time since 2010 and have already matched their victory total from 2016. The Rams will look to run the ball with Todd Gurley against the Jaguars' suspect rushing defense, which ranks second to last in the NFL. Gurley leads the league with seven touchdowns, four of which have come on the ground.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Jaguars -2.5. O/U: 42.5.

ABOUT THE RAMS (3-2): Gurley fumbled at the goal line and Goff threw a late interception in last week's 16-10 home loss to Seattle. Goff has thrown for an average of 272 passing yards per game with seven touchdowns and just three interceptions. Wide receiver Sammie Watkins admitted during the week that he has become frustrated with his lack of use in the early going after netting just 14 grabs through the team's first five games. He didn't have a target in last week's loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
ABOUT THE JAGUARS (3-2): Jacksonville continues to hold back the reins on quarterback Blake Bortles who passed for just 95 yards and an interception in last week's game. Fournette has become the focal point of the offense as he ranks second in the NFL with 466 yards and is tied for first with five rushing touchdowns. Both Fournette (ankle) and his backup, Chris Ivory (hip), missed practice time during the week and are both listed as questionable, but they expected to play after combining for 222 yards on the ground against the Steelers.

EXTRA POINTS
1. Jaguars high-priced free agent signee Calais Campbell has six sacks, which is third in the NFL behind Dallas' DeMarcus Lawrence (8.5) and San Diego's Melvin Ingram (7.5).
2. Paced by explosive CBs Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye, the Jaguars have the best turnover ratio in the league at plus-10.
3. The Rams are 3-1 in the series, winning the last meeting 34-20 in 2013.

PREDICTION: Rams 24, Jaguars 21