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Week 12: Bills vs. Jaguars
The Bills return home after a thrilling come from behind victory in Houston that should give them more confidence offensively. This week's opponent is a much stiffer challenge. Jacksonville is one of the best all around defensive teams in the league and are coming in to this game with a short week of work after beating the Giants at home on Monday night.
FACTS AND FIGURES
| Matchup: |
Buffalo (4-6) vs. Jacksonville (6-4) |
| Place: |
Ralph Wilson Stadium |
| Television: |
CBS |
| Announcers: |
Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots |
| Spread: |
Jaguars by 3 |
| Series: |
Tied 3-3 (Jaguars 1-0 in playoffs) |
| Streak: |
Jaguars Won 1 |
| Last Meeting: |
Jaguars 13-10 in Buffalo (2004) |
| Jaguars Offense: |
Rush (4th); Pass (23rd); overall (15th) |
| Jaguars Defense: |
Rush (6th); Pass (5th); overall (3rd) |
| Bills Offense: |
Rush (24th); Pass (29th); overall (30th) |
| Bills Defense: |
Rush (25th); Pass (20th); overall (23rd) |
INJURY UPDATE
The Bills came out of their win against the Texans without any new injuries. They still will likely be without Willis McGahee and Josh Reed. McGahee has three broken ribs and Reed has a bruised kidney. Reed has a chance to return but will likely be held out another week. Keith Ellison will be questionable again with a knee injury that forced him to miss the Texans game.
The Jaguars are a banged up team, especially defensively where they just placed their eighth player on injured reserve. SS Donovin Darius broke his leg against the Giants on Monday night and is out for the year. QB Byron Leftwich is likely headed to IR as well with an ankle injury, he will not play as he had surgery this week. WR Ernest Wilford suffered a sprained ankle against the Giants and left the stadium on crutches putting his availability in doubt this week. Three other banged up players that may or may not play are LB Jorge Cordova, CB Terry Cousin, and CB Brian Williams. Cordova and Williams have hamstring strains while Cousin has a groin injury. Cousin and Cordova missed the Giants game and Williams suffered his injury during that game. Good news for the Jags was the return of DT Marcus Stroud to the lineup last week. He had missed five games with an ankle injury.
 Bills Daily Injury Page
KEY MATCHUPS
RB Anthony Thomas vs. DTs John Henderson and Marcus Stroud:
The two huge bodies in the middle will make running tough for Thomas. He struggled against the weak Texans defense, how will he do against the 6th ranked run defense of Jacksonville?
RT Terrence Pennington vs. LDE Bobby McCray:
Pennington held his own last week, matched up on many plays with top pick Mario Williams of the Texans. McCray leads the Jaguars with 7 sacks, so this will be a tough matchup. Look for him to get plenty of help from the tight ends and backs.
DTs Kyle Williams and Larry Tripplett vs. RBs Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew:
The Bills haven't done well against the run this year and they definitely have struggled against teams with a good one-two punch. Taylor and Jones-Drew bring different things to the table so it will be tough for the Bills to play against them. The Bills need to close the holes in the middle of the defense that means the tackles must have a good game. They also need to watch out for Jones-Drew out of the backfield as he is a big receiving threat.
WR Peerless Price vs. CB Rashean Mathis:
Price will look to build on the great game winning catch he had last week. J.P. Losman needs to be very careful when throwing to him as Mathis usually lines up on his side and leads the team with 6 interceptions.
DE Aaron Schobel vs. LT Khalif Barnes:
The Bills need to get pressure on David Garrard to fluster him a bit in a hostile road environment. Schobel leads the team with 8 sacks and needs to be in Garrard's face much of the afternoon.
LB London Fletcher vs. TE George Wrighster:
With the Jaguars receivers struggling, no one has over 400 yards receiving, one of the big receiving threats is Wrighster. In the cover two, Fletcher has the middle of the field on many plays and needs to watch out for the big tight end making the short to intermediate catches.
GAME PLAN
When The Bills Have The Ball: They need to pick their poison as the Jaguars are in the top six in both run and pass defense. It won't be as easy to move the ball through the air as it was last week but they will need to take some shots deep to loosen up the defense to have any success at running the ball. Look for a wide open attack again with a lot of three and four receiver sets to combat the solid front wall the Jaguars have.
When The Jaguars Have The Ball: Look for them to take what the Bills will give them. That means a lot of short passes to the running backs and tight ends. Also look for a heavy dose of running the football by both backs.
BILLS DAILY PREDICTION
The Bills should be filled with confidence coming back home after a big win. Everyone will be watching to see if Losman has hit the turning point or if last week was a one time thing. I do think he has turned the corner and has more confidence but he is going up against a team with a great defense and will struggle. The Bills just don't match up well with this team:
Jaguars 14, Bills 10
Season Prediction Record: (6-4)
Season Record Against The Spread: (5-5)
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