Seattle Not a Great Place for Jags to Shake Offensive Woes

The Jacksonville Jaguars are struggling thus far, to say the least. They have a multitude of offensive problems that have yet to be solved, and it is highly doubtful that they will get some relief by visiting Century Link Field in Seattle, where they have an appointment with the Seattle Seahawks, in a game that is slated to kick off at 4:25 PM ET.

While Seahawks are 2-0 and have permitted just ten points, the Jags are 0-2 and have put just eleven points on the board (with two of those coming by way of a safety). Hence the sizable NFL point spread at Bovada, where the ‘Hawks will have to win by almost three touchdowns to cover:

Seattle Seahawks -19
Jacksonville Jaguars +19

This is the total on the game:

Over 41 Points -105
Under 41 Points -115

Seattle is coming off a virtuoso performance last Sunday night when the Seahawks completely flummoxed the San Francisco 49ers, holding them to just a field goal in a 29-3 victory. They intercepted Colin Kaepernick three times, and kept the Niners’ running backs in check. This was, on supposes, one of those “statement” games, where they sought to get the upper hand in the NFC West. That they accomplished.

It goes without saying that this is a daunting challenge to the Jaguars, who are, well, “challenged.” It wasn’t until there was 2:53 left in last Sunday’s game that they were able to put the ball in the end zone for the first time this season. As a result, the special NFL prop at Bovada concerns whether Jacksonville will indeed score an offensive touchdown in Sunday’s game. The price is -130 that the Jaguars will do just that.

There is no escaping the fact that Seattle is a dominant team at home. The last two games against the defending NFC champion 49ers are enough evidence of that, as they outscored San Francisco by a 71-16 margin. Russell Wilson, who had 17 TD passes and just two interceptions at Century Link Field last season, did not really get in on the party in a big way, completing just eight of 19 passes for 142 yards. So there’s upside there, and when you have to cover such a massive NFL pointspread, that is a scary thought.

Is there upside with Jacksonville? That’s hard to say; really it is. Chad Henne is going to get the start at quarterback, as Blaine Gabbert, who was ineffective anyway, sits out with that nasty gash he’s got on his hand. Maurice Jones-Drew, a legitimate weapon and one of the best backs in the league, has not gotten unleashed yet (only 72 yards in two games).

Henne had 241 passing yards last week, but the Jags need to do a better job of protecting him, as he was sacked on five occasions.

Take note – this is NOT a second straight trip to the west coast for the Jaguars, who stayed out there after the game with Oakland. But that won’t mean a whole lot in the Pacific Northwest, where the Seahawks have won nine in a row straight-up and covered eight of those games. In an NFL prop at Bovada, they are +150 to go undefeated at home during the 2013 regular season.

By the way, the one person outside of the Seattle organization who knows the Seahawks defense better than anybody else is Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley, who was the defensive coordinator for four seasons. Whether that is enough to compensate for the deficiencies on a team that has lost double-digit decisions to teams that won a total of six games last season is debatable.