Upstart Jags Get the Edge In Seattle

NFL News - October 8th, 2009 - Written by John

Amidst a hovering cloud of fan indifference, the Jacksonville Jaguars seem to be giving their city something to root for. After tanking in their first two games, scoring a total of 29 points to start 0-2, the Jaguars seemed all but ready to be the favorite to be shipped to a bigger market in Los Angeles. Their team was meek, but the attendance was meeker, selling out just over half of their seats against teams like Arizona and Tennessee. But now, after the miserable start, the Jaguars have been on a tear, gaining immediate respect in the league and appearing to be a contender in the AFC South.

They are favored to keep the ball rolling this Sunday, with a minus-3 line over Seattle Seahawks, according to the NFL Betting Lines provided by BetUS. Jacksonville has struggled in this position before, going 1-8 ATS last season, but they are 2-0 ATS in their last two games and 3-1 overall.

The Seahawks, meanwhile, are 0-2 ATS as the underdog this year and 1-3 ATS overall.

Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard has been the key in the team's resurrection. He was asked to shut down his weekly talk show on a local Jacksonville radio network to focus on preparations and, initially, it appears to be helping. He had a record day last week against the Titans, throwing for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Two of them came to sophomore Mike Sims-Walker, who has already passed last year's totals in yards and scores.

As much as Jacksonville appears to be progressing, the Seattle Seahawks have only gone backwards since their Week One win over St. Louis. And with every fleeting day, that win seems to be less and less impressive. They scored 35 points in the opener and shut out the Rams to get an early division start. But St. Louis has since been shutout again and only have three offensive touchdowns to their name. And Seattle has allowed an average of 27.3 points in it's last three games, losing all of them.

They have been without Matt Hasselbeck since halftime of Week Two, having to rely on back-up Seneca Wallace. He has been efficient, yet unremarkable in his two starts, throwing for 518 yards and two touchdowns with only one pick.

The biggest problem, however, hasn't been with the offense. The defense was harassed yet again by the Colts last week. Head coach Jim Mora said after the game that Peyton Manning “at one time or another took advantage of an error by just about everyone on our defense.”

The defense is second-to-last in the NFC with a minus-4 turnover ratio, and that's bad news considering they didn't force a turnover the last time they met Jacksonville in 2005. The Jaguars beat the spread in that game, winning 26-14, and are 1-1 SU against Seattle in their two meetings this decade.

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