Bills vs. Jaguars where to watch: TV channel, kickoff time, NFL live stream, spread, odds, ‘MNF’ prediction |Max Sporty|

In the first game of a Week 3 “Monday Night Football” doubleheader, the 2-0 Buffalo Bills will play host to the 0-2 Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite an offseason of change, the Bills once again look like one of the main contenders to the throne of the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC, while the Jags still do not seem to have made many steps after their disappointing end to the 2023 campaign.

Josh Allen and Co. is rolling offensively, while Sean McDermott’s revamped defense has stifled a pair of strong offenses in each of the first two weeks. Trevor Lawrence, meanwhile, has struggled so far, and the Jaguars’ defense hasn’t been able to do enough to make up for the offensive struggles.

Will the Bills remain undefeated? Will the Jaguars come back? We’ll find out soon enough. Before we break down the match, here’s a look at how you can watch the game.

Where to look

Date: Monday, September 23 | Time: 7:30 pm ET
Location: Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, NY)
Channel: ESPN | Stream: fubo
Follow: CBS Sports App
Probability: Bills -5.5; O/U 46.5 (through SportsLine deal odds)

When the Jaguars have the ball

Jacksonville’s offense was perhaps the league’s most disappointing unit through the first two weeks of the season, totaling just 590 yards and 30 points combined in losses to the Dolphins and Browns.

Trevor Lawrence is 26 of 51 passing for 382 yards and one touchdown, and Jacksonville has a pitiful passing success rate of just 36.2%. He even has a sky-high 12.7% sack rate, more than double his career average of 5.3%. Jacksonville’s receivers have already dropped four passes, while Lawrence has been off target on 13 of 51 attempts (27.1%, the highest mark of his career). Presumably top passing target Christian Kirk has two catches for 29 yards. Nothing works well, maybe with the exception of the occasional, “well, Brian Thomas Jr. is down there somewhere” kind of throw.

In the run game, Travis Etienne is averaging just 3.8 yards per carry, right where he was last year. He ranks 34th out of 50 qualified running backs in yards after contact per carry and 35th in missed tackle rate, per Tru Media. The team as a whole averages just 1.28 yards before contact per carry, tied for 20th in the NFL. Tank Bigsby ripped off some long runs, but again, nothing else really works here.

They now go against a Bills defense that essentially strangled Miami’s offense even before Tua Tagovailoa left with an injury in Week 2, and held the Cardinals to just 270 total yards in Week 1. (A punt return touchdown gave Arizona its third. touchdown of the afternoon.) Jacksonville will also be without tight end Evan Engram again, leaving Brenton Strange in the top tight end role in his place.

That particular absence is unfortunate, because the best way to beat this Buffalo defense might be on throws over the middle against a linebacker group missing superstar Matt Milano and a safety duo (Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin) that isn’t as strong in coverage. like its predecessors.

With linebacker Terrel Bernard and slot corner Taron Johnson also out Monday night for the Bills, that only reinforces that “over the middle” is where the Jaguars need to attack. Whether that’s with Strange, or making Kirk much more involved than he’s been up until now, it has to happen. On the outside, Thomas and Gabe Davis will see a lot of Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Rasul Douglas slide into the slot. There’s also the fact that the offensive line will have to deal with a fully healthy Greg Rousseau and Von Miller — who really came through the first two weeks of the season — to even give Lawrence enough time to find them downfield. .

Can Doug Pederson and Press Taylor trick someone into open space and find success? Everything we’ve seen from this team over the last year-plus leaves me skeptical.

When the Bills have the ball

The Bills won their first two games of the season in very different fashion.

In Week 1, it took a Josh Allen-is-Superman kind of effort to come from behind and beat Arizona. Allen went 18 of 23 for 232 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and carried nine times for 39 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. In Week 2, James Cook basically went nuclear in the first half with a pair of touchdown runs and a touchdown reception, and Buffalo basically just ran out the clock the rest of the way. Allen threw just 19 passes and had just two rushing attempts.

The fact that they can win in completely different ways is an extremely encouraging sign for their offseason prospects, especially considering how well the revamped defense has performed so far.

The Jaguars actually allowed just 38 points to the Dolphins and Browns through the first two weeks of the season, but they allowed the Dolphins to put up 400 yards and the Browns to look like a vaguely competent unit (which didn’t happen against either). the Cowboys or Giants), and they still have to force a turnover. That they were able to stifle Miami’s running game in Week 1 is somewhat encouraging, but Raheem Mostert left early with an injury and the Dolphins’ last two games have shown that their rushing attack may just not be as explosive as it was last year even with De’Von Achane still around, mostly because they can’t block anyone. Jacksonville also gave up the 10th-most rushing yards to quarterbacks last season, which is less than ideal when facing a Josh Allen-led team.

With Tyson Campbell on IR and Tashaun Gipson suspended, the Jaguars’ secondary will already be shortened. But now Darnell Savage is also gone, leaving them dangerously thin on the back end. Buffalo’s passing attack hasn’t had to do all that much so far this season, but their young pass catchers (Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid) should see favorable matchups down the field. As long as Buffalo’s offensive line holds up against the pass rush led by Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, there really isn’t much to worry about here for the Bills.

Prediction

Buffalo is the better team, playing at home, against an opponent that seems to be regressing since getting a “dead cat rebound” season after firing Urban Meyer. With Josh Allen leading the way, the run game operating at a high level and Sean McDermott scheming up the defense, there is just too much working in the Bills’ favor for the Jaguars to overcome. Bills 30, Jaguars 17