Big Cat Country
Welcome to Big Cat Country’s staff roundtable!
Today, we’re previewing Week 6’s matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Seattle Seahawks at EverBank Stadium.
The Jaguars are 4-1 for the first time since 2007. Where does the team need to improve to continue winning at this pace?
Dillon Appleman: The team really needs to find more consistency if they’re going to keep this pace. It feels like in every game this season, there have been drastic swings of good and bad from both sides of the ball, so stringing together more consistent play would go a long way in ensuring the Jaguars keep stacking wins.
Travis Holmes: While I am truly loving the overall gritty play of this Jaguars roster from top to bottom, for them to evolve into the late-season true playoff contender they envision, the interior pass rush must find a way to collect more quarterback hurries without depending on the blitz. Patrick Mahomes put his pocket awareness on display on Monday, making Jacksonville pay early and often whenever they attempted to throw additional bodies to solve the problem of him being too comfortable in the pocket. While all quarterbacks may not reach Mahomes’ level of pocket awareness, most of the top signal callers the team will face in January (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, etc) provide similar defensive issues.
Gus Logue: I think Jacksonville needs more from its pass rush, period. The unit is still relying on Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker to do the heavy lifting. According to SūmerSports, the Jaguars rank 25th in pressure rate when rushing four defenders this season (22.2%). Anthony Campanile has done a great job of using creative blitz packages to create chaos, but the NFL’s best defenses have always been able to apply pressure with four guys. Keep your eye out for GM James Gladstone to address this (and receiver depth) ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline.
Henry Zimmer: The offense needs to become more consistent for this team to really make an impact. Whether that is through Trevor Lawrence cutting down on turnovers or the pass catchers making more of an impact and not dropping the ball, the offense needs to find a way to stay level.
What’s a matchup you’re looking forward to watching?
Dillon: Seahawks TE AJ Barner vs. Jaguars LBs. Barner isn’t a household name by any stretch but he’s proven to be a hugely important piece to the Seahawks’ offensive success, particularly in the red zone. He leads the team with four touchdowns on the year, and they’ve all come inside the 20, so they clearly prioritize him in those scenarios. Lloyd and Oluokun will need to continue their disciplined play to keep Barner out of the end zone in Week 6.
Travis: DaVon Hamilton and Maason Smith against Seahawks right guard Anthony Bradford will be a must-watch affair. For those who may not know, Bradford has objectively been one of the worst NFL offensive linemen to watch in this early 2025 season, with film...
