Jacksonville at Carolina: 5 Things the Jags Must Do to Pummel Panthers

The Jacksonville Jaguars looked absolutely lost last week against the New York Jets.

Starting quarterback Luke McCown threw four interceptions on the way to a 1.5 quarterback rating, the offensive line allowed a safety in the first quarter and the pass defense let tight end Dustin Keller have his way in the Jaguars secondary. 

Running back Maurice Jones-Drew was the lone bright spot for the Jaguars, rushing for 88 yards, but it didn't matter much because he was pulled when the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter.

There's a silver lining, however, because with McCown's terrible performance came the chance for Blaine Gabbert to get some reps and start to build his résumé as a professional quarterback. Gabbert went 5-for-6 for for 52 yards in garbage time against the Jets and earned the starting nod from head coach Jack Del Rio.

This week, it's a showdown between rookie quarterbacks as Jacksonville travels to Carolina and Gabbert takes on Cam Newton.

Newton has been impressive. He's thrown for at least 400 yards in his first two games, setting the record for best professional debut by a quarterback in NFL history. His Panthers are 0-2, but it has little to do with him and more to do with his team's porous defense.

Can Jacksonville travel to Carolina and upset the Panthers? Yes, they can.

What must they do to win? Let's find out.

Jaguars Defense Must Disrupt Cam Newton

Before the beginning of the season, I looked at this matchup on the Jaguars schedule and said, "Great. All we need to do is make Cam Newton a passer. Let him beat himself."

After two weeks of the regular season, I couldn't be more wrong.

Cam Newton is transforming into one of the best pocket passers in the league. The Jaguars defense has to disrupt his timing and his progressions. They don't have to get sacks (but it might be easy considering the Panthers have given up eight sacks so far), but they have to make him move around.

For all the stats sports pundits are throwing around concerning Newton, there's one that rarely gets any mention: Newton has four interceptions in two games.

Did you know that three of them were the result of him having to throw on the run?

Cause disruption in the backfield, and the Jaguars will be able to limit Newton's time on the field. If Newton does well, the Panthers do well. If he throws a couple of interceptions, then Carolina will be the best 0-3 team in the league.

Win in the Trenches

Both games for Carolina have been shootouts, and if Jacksonville has any hopes of winning, they're going to need to put up points, too. That means that both offensive lines will play a huge part in determining who wins on Sunday.

For Carolina, this is going to mean the offensive line buying Cam Newton as much time as possible. He's good, but he's still a rookie, and he'll need an extra second or two to go through his progressions properly.

For Jacksonville, this means the offensive line opening holes for Maurice Jones-Drew. Rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert won't be asked to put the team on his back but Jones-Drew and second-year running back Deji Karim will combine for at least 40 rushes.

The Panthers haven't exactly been stout against the run so far. They gave up 90 yards and a touchdown to Arizona running back Beanie Wells and then 115 total yards to Green Bay running back James Starks.

How Carolina's defensive line matches up against Jones-Drew, their first real test of the season, will go a long way in determining the score.

Special Teams Must Be Special

For the Panthers, games have come down to the wire. Against the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers, it was a matter of a touchdown.

With games so close, special teams will be counted on to win a number of battles.

Field position will play a major factor in this game. If Jacksonville punter Matt Turk can pin Cam Newton inside his own 10, how will the rookie respond?

If Carolina does the same, will the Jacksonville offensive line give up another safety?

Both teams have two of the best field-goal kickers in the league in Josh Scobee and Olindo Mare. Obviously, touchdowns before field goals, but even one missed opportunity by either kicker will result in a completely different ball game.

Will Blaine Gabbert be driving down the field trailing by two points or five points?

Will Cam Newton need to get into the end zone or just to the 30 for a field goal try?

Blaine "The Hair" Gabbert Must Limit Mistakes

The Panthers may be giving up over 400 yards a game in the air, but rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert will not be counted on to do too terribly much.

He may very well score a touchdown or two, but it will be obvious at game's end that Jack Del Rio and the Jaguars leaned on their rushing game far more than their passing game.

But that doesn't mean that Gabbert will be nonessential. The Panthers do a great job of stopping teams and have forced 3rd down 24 times this season. They've only allowed 10 3rd-down conversions total, so a 3rd down of six or more yards will happen frequently on Sunday. 

Gabbert may get no more than 20 pass attempts this game, but he'll be counted on to throw slants and get much-needed eight- or nine-yard completions.

Gabbert must limit his mistakes and not try to be a hero.

Throw the ball away. Take a sack if necessary. Whatever you do, just don't throw an interception.

If Blaine "The Hair" Gabbert can have a turnover-free day, look for the Jaguars to be in this to the very end.

Play Loose and Have Fun

The reason Cam Newton is having such a great professional debut is because he is playing relaxed. It's a win-win for him and for head coach Ron Rivera. If Newton does terrible, he's a rookie and needs more time. If he does great, then Rivera and general manager Marty Hurney look like geniuses.

Jack Del Rio is on the hot seat in Jacksonville, but no one's going to play well tight, especially a young roster led by a rookie quarterback (look at what happened last week). If you play with fear, you'll lose every time.

The fan base in Jacksonville is quick to make snap judgments. But they have been supportive of Blaine "The Hair" Gabbert so far this season and want to see him play.

In these first few games, Gabbert is in a fortunate position where he's going to be given a lot of grace. An interception or a fumble won't cost him his job.

Del Rio is in a different boat—a non-playoff season may send him packing. But he knows as well as anyone that transferring that pressure to a young quarterback will lose the team more games than it wins them.