Cowboys vs Jaguars Week 15: history, key players, projection

The AFC South trek continues once again for the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15. Their two meetings against the division thus far have brought two wins, albeit very different varieties of victories. Nonetheless, it is the NFL, and you take a win every way you can get it.

The Cowboys had a wakeup call last week, as it took a 98-yard game-winning drive to beat the one-win Texans and avoid a massive upset. Dak Prescott engineered the drive, and the Cowboys escaped with win No. 10 to move to 10-3 on the year.

The Jaguars sit at 5-8, but that doesn’t necessarily tell the entire story of this team. They are a young, confident bunch, and are hosting the Cowboys after a strong showing; Jacksonville just took down their division-leading foes the Tennessee Titans 36-22, behind Trevor Lawrence’s career day. The Jags are looking to make some noise and build on this season as a stepping stone for a playoff run next year.

The Cowboys will get Tyron Smith back this week, barring any unforeseen changes to his health, and that is a massively welcome addition, especially with the loss of Terence Steele.

Cowboys vs Jaguars: History, key matchups, and prediction

Cowboys vs Jaguars: Matchup History

All-time Record: 4-3 in favor of the Dallas Cowboys

Most recent result: Dallas Cowboys 40, Jacksonville Jaguars 7 on October 14, 2018

Another young matchup history in this week’s game. These two teams have shared the field just twice in history. That is largely due to the Jaguars’ inaugural season being 1995, making them one of the youngest franchises in the NFL.

Dallas does hold an advantage over the Jags in their history, even though the teams have alternated two-game winning streaks. Most recently, fans saw a Cowboys destruction of the Jaguars at the hands of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, who combined for four touchdowns. The two ran for a combined 192 yards, with 106 to Zeke and 82 for Prescott.

Prior to that, these two met in Wembley Stadium in an overseas matchup. Dallas took that one on a sloppy, wet field and was propelled to a win behind a 158 yard receiving day by Dez Bryant.

Cowboys vs Jaguars: Weather Outlook

Location: TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, Florida

Stadium Type: Open stadium, grass

Predicted Forecast: High of 58, low of 40, partly sunny, winds of 8-9mph with gusts up to 17-18mph, 19% chance of precipitation

For a matchup down in Florida, the Cowboys get a good draw of timing on this one. Earlier in the year, they would be dealing with heat and humidity, but this forecast is setting up to be an ideal day for football.

With temperatures topping out in the upper-50s, there should be no issues with extra fatigue or cramping coming into play. The rain holding out is also very welcome, as the forecast in Jacksonville can often have thunderstorms rolling in.

The one change in this one is the Cowboys are headed to a natural grass field. This is just their third game on natural grass all year, and their first in five weeks. It is a small factor, yet one to keep an eye on if there is any slippage or cleat issues.

Cowboys vs Jaguars: “Under the Radar” Players

Dallas Cowboys: Jayron Kearse, Safety

After avoiding a pregame scare last week, Jayron Kearse was able to stay healthy and be a contributor for the Cowboys against the Texans. On the year, he has tallied 57 tackles, tied for third on the team. To go with that, Kearse has two sacks, six tackles for loss, and three pass deflections.

This matchups offers a unique challenge for Kearse, as the Jags’ running back, Travis Etienne Jr., is very much a dual-threat running back. He has amassed 814 rushing yards and 214 yards on 25 receptions. Kearse’s ability to play in coverage and also roll down to the line of scrimmage to support the run game makes him extremely valuable on Sunday.

Dallas will have to slow down Etienne Jr. in order win this one, as they look to improve their run defense. They allowed 114 yards on the ground to the Texans, but did drastically improve, as they only allowed 3.1 yards per rushing attempt. The Texans simply … run a ton. You’re going to bank yards that way.

This game feels like a chance for Kearse to rack up some important solo tackles in space and be involved in a turnover.

Be it via fumble recovery or interception, Kearse could be a defensive factory on Sunday.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Zay Jones, WR

The Jaguars receiver room isn’t overly loaded with big names, yet they are producing decently enough this season. They are led by Christian Kirk, who signed with them before this season. Behind him is a group of receivers contributing and helping second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

While fourth on the team in touchdowns, second in yards, and second in targets, Zay Jones is first on the team with 68 receptions. He has 655 receiving yards as well. He is averaging 9.6 yards per catch, proving to be quite the underneath target for Lawrence this year.

Trevon Diggs will be following Christian Kirk around, and recent fantasy stud/tight end Evan Engram and wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. will be other targets to keep an eye on.

If Diggs can do his thing and lock up Kirk, the Cowboys will see second-year DB Kelvin Joseph tasked with handling the next man up for the Jags.

Cowboys vs Jaguars: Gut projection

Projection: Dallas Cowboys 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 26

The Cowboys are going to be tasked with winning this game through the air against Jacksonville, in a flip of the script from what we have seen lately. The Jags aren’t a brick wall by any means, as their run defense is 14th in the NFL. It is just that their passing defense is 29th in the league, an area that the Cowboys can try to exploit.

Over the last seven games, Dallas is 6-1 and averaging a monstrous 35.7 points per game. They are hanging up big numbers on teams, and when things are clicking, they can score at will. What may be more impressive is that their offense was lackluster for most of the game against the Texans and still managed to score 27 points and have 404 yards of offense.

Trevor Lawrence has the Jaguars with the 10th-best passing offense in the NFL in his second year, as he seems to be turning a corner. That puts their run game at 15th in the NFL, which gives them a more than capable offensive attack.

This one will be a little bit more high-scoring than some think, and close throughout, as the Jags will surprise some people with their talent level. The Cowboys will still surpass 100 yards on the ground, something they have done in 11 of their 13 games, and give Dak just enough help on the ground to open up the play action attack, an area that could pay huge dividends on Sunday.

Overall, the Jags are 15th in the NFL in both offensive and defensive scoring, a stat that encapsulates this team. They are a middle-of-the-road NFL team, and that may be the most dangerous type of team to face when you have a bullseye on your back.

Trevor Lawrence is going to make some plays on this defense, and that is kudos to him. He is figuring out life in the NFL, with 20 touchdowns to just six interceptions. He has yet to face a defensive front like Dallas, though. After the ‘Boys were held sack-less against the Texans, intuition would lead one to believe that defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will have some heat dialed up to get that unit back on track.

There are some points to be found in this one, and that’ll mean another week of a high heart rate for those in the Cowboys’ corner. This game stays within one score most of the way and, like last week, comes down to the final two minutes. The Cowboys offense gives the defense a lead this week in a swap of roles, and puts the job on that unit to close this one out.

3 causes for concern from Cowboys narrow win vs Texans

The Cowboys were lucky to escape with a win against the Texans on Sunday. Here are three causes for concern from the come-from-behind victory.