1st down is usually a very important down no matter what, but it might mean even more on Sunday. I was looking at the numbers in the Titans, Jaguars game last week, and something stuck out. These stats are a direct result of their QB. If their QB wasn't Luke McCown, these stats might be a little different, but he is and they are.
In the 1st half of last week's game, Jax ran the ball 11 out of 12 times on 1st down. We know MJD will be a big part of what the Jaguars will do Sunday, but I didn't think it could be that much. When the Jaguars got 4 or more yards on 1st down, they didn't pick up the 1st down only once. If we can keep MJD or Karim to 3 or less on 1st we should be golden. The Jaguars don't want to have to rely on Luke to have to bail them out on drives. Jax had 9 3rd and 1s in that game. That is an absurd amount. Even the players on the Titans were envious of that number.