Miami Dolphins vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: What's the Game Plan for Jacksonville?

The Jacksonville Jaguars host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and will look to bounce back from a poor 20-9 loss to the Carolina Panthers. To do that, they need to make some key adjustments to their Week 2 game plan.

The Jaguars looked like proper NFL competitors in the first half of the 20-9 loss, but quarterback Blake Bortles' crucial pick-six to corner Josh Norman put the Panthers up by eight points and broke the offense's stability. 

The Jaguars have to avoid that scenario this week, especially since the defense seems to be playing well. Their game plan needs to focus less on Bortles and more on a sensible, consistent offense.

Offensive Game Plan

Bortles threw 40 times, although that number of passes is somewhat inflated from the Jaguars' successful two-minute drive to end the first half and the onslaught of passes in the fourth quarter to try and catch up.

Either way, Bortles' number of attempts needs to be considerably less than his total last week, as seen in the stats below. Somewhere around 30 times would be preferable, because that would mean the offense never completely depended on him or forced him to throw a large number of passes at the end.

Passes Attempted/Completed	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	QB Rating
22/40	183	1	2	54.5

Thirty or so passes is still a solid number, and that means the wide receivers have to finally show up. Allen Robinson, Rashad Greene and Allen Hurns need to overcome their bad drops, and Marqise Lee looks "probable" to play, per Jaguars.com, and to offer a bit more of a vertical threat than his compatriots.

Rookie running back T.J. Yeldon showed promise in Week 1, taking 12 carries for 51 yards. The Jaguars only ran a total of 21 times, but totaled 96 yards, good for a 4.6-yard average. The Dolphins have two top pass-rushers in defensive end Cameron Wake and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and running away from them would null some of their ability.

When Bortles is throwing, it's crucial he recognizes last week's mistakes. After the pick-six, he had a tendency to hold on to the ball, and that led to disrupted throws and sacks. 

The Dolphins will be bringing much more in terms of the pass rush, so offensive coordinator is going to need to call passes that give Bortles as much time as possible and open up the possibility for him to escape the pocket and pick up yards on the ground.

Defensive Game Plan

The Jaguars are going up against one of the league's most improved QBs in Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill went from a 76.1 QB rating in 2012, to 81.7 in 2013 and finally to a 92.8 in 2014. He's developed exactly how the Dolphins hoped and could still be getting better.

Mark Tenally/Associated Press/Associated Press

However, Tannehill will make mistakes. He's thrown 40 interceptions in the past three years, and it's crucial that the Jaguars' pass rush makes him uncomfortable. The Dolphins' offensive line is slightly above-average, but the pass rush should be able to force a few errors.

The defense did a fine job of shutting down Panthers TE Greg Olson last week, and it needs to apply the same strategy against Dolphins TE Jordan Cameron. Cameron is consistent and opportunistic and will punish the Jaguars if they don't devote the proper effort to containing him.

Dolphins WR Jarvis Landry is the other major threat, and his fantastic ball skills and polished routes make him a difficult player to defend against. CBs Aaron Colvin, Davon House and Demetrius McCray all need to step up when matched up against him.

Finally, contain Dolphins RB Lamar Miller. He's not a "game-breaking" RB, but he's certainly good and can reach the second level of the defense consistently if not treated with respect.

Key Players and Matchups

Lee's nagging injury issues and average performance when on the field last year resulted in an underwhelming year, but he's actually very important to this game. He's the wide receivers' one vertical specialist, and having him as an option is better than having him on the sideline.

Another key player performance will be either left tackle Luke Joeckel or backup Sam Young. Joeckel's ankle tweak has him "questionable" for this game, and if Young has to start, that'll be a tough job to defend against Miami's defensive front. 

Although, Joeckel is out of the boot, per Ryan O'Halloran's tweet; if he's able to go on Sunday, that would be a huge boost to the offensive line:

On defense, a crucial player will be Colvin. Gratz is out for this Sunday, so the rest of the CBs have to pick up the slack, especially Colvin. The talented corner didn't quite meet expectations on Sunday, so a strong performance from him could be a major factor.

Finally, a key pair will be outside linebackers Telvin Smith and Dan Skuta. Both will be asked to do a lot on Sunday, both in the passing and in the run. Skuta shined at moments in Week 1, as did Smith, but a consistent performance on Sunday will be very important to defensive success.

Prediction

The Jaguars will have a much-better all-around game on Sunday. The offense and Bortles will avoid a major mistake in the second half, and they should have better composure in the game's final stages.

Both will look to run the ball, but Tannehill and Bortles will be called upon to make plays. Both also have the capability to turn the ball over and stall an offense, but the OCs of each team will hope that a strong running game will upon up opportunities.

The Dolphins simply have more talent than the Jaguars, and it seems like that could be the difference-maker. Tannehill is, at the moment, the better of the two QBs, and his success will help separate Miami from the Jaguars late.

Prediction: Dolphins 27, Jaguars 21

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All stats were provided by ESPN.com unless otherwise stated.

Evan Reier is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report covering the Jacksonville Jaguars. Follow Evan on Twitter @evanreier.