Buffalo Rumblings
The Jacksonville Jaguars host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon, and it’s the second time in head coach Sean McDermott’s tenure that a six-seeded Buffalo club will travel to a three-seeded Jacksonville team. In the first meeting, Jacksonville won a barn-burner, outlasting the Bills in a 10-3 contest that led many of my friends to text me things like, “This game has set the NFL back 100 years.”
At the time, I was just excited that the Bills were in the playoffs. After all, the Bills broke a 17-season playoff drought the week prior, and that playoff game against Jacksonville felt like a win-win regardless of the outcome. This time, though, it’s different. The 2025 Bills didn’t sneak into the playoffs thanks to another painful Baltimore Ravens collapse. They’re a 12-win unit that will play in its seventh straight postseason.
The Jaguars aren’t that 2017 club, either. Blake Bortles might have nearly taken that team to the Super Bowl, but he can’t hold a candle to the Jags’ current signal caller. The 2017 offense was led by some familiar curmudgeons, as head coach Doug Marrone and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett moved from Orchard Park, NY, to Duval County, FL, to handle the play-calling duties. Jacksonville’s current head coach, first-year man Liam Cohen, is a prime Coach of the Year candidate, as he turned the Jaguars from a four-win team into a 13-win AFC South champion in just one season.
If the Bills are going to win their first road playoff game since the 1992 AFC Championship Game, they’ll need to key in on some of Jacksonville’s top players. It’s a very talented roster, so narrowing it to just five players is no easy task. Please tell us who your top Jaguars to watch are in the comments below.
As for us, here are five Jaguars to watch on Sunday against the Bills.
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QB Trevor Lawrence
The Clemson product had perhaps his finest professional season, and over the last two months, Lawrence has played as well as he ever has professionally. During Jacksonville’s current eight-game win streak, Lawrence has completed 62.7% of his passes for 2,009 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions. His quarterback rating is 106.1 over that span, and he’s even rushed for 187 yards and five touchdowns.
Lawrence is a great pocket passer, but he has plenty of escapability to make throws on the run. He can beat teams with his legs, as well, if defenses aren’t careful to prevent it from happening. Buffalo loves to use simulated pressures and stunts to create chaos up front, but maintaining rush lane integrity is essential to success with that kind of plan. If they don’t, Lawrence will torch them with his legs.
The Bills have had success using a mirror/fire/spy player in situations like this during the season, and I anticipate that’s the route they’ll take again. That mirror player is usually Matt Milano, but the Bills do a nice job disguising who it will be in critical situations....
