Five Jacksonville Jaguars to watch at the Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills host the Jacksonville Jaguars for Monday Night Football, and through two weeks of the 2024 NFL season, these teams have been on opposite trajectories. While Buffalo started slowly, trailing the Arizona Cardinals 17-3 late in the first half of their first game, the Bills have won both their games this season. Jacksonville, on the other hand, jumped out to a 17-3 lead on the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 before losing that game and their second contest against the Cleveland Browns .

Just because the Jags are 0-2 and the Bills are 2-0, I'm sure there will be some folks who expect an easy win for the Bills. They shouldn't. Jacksonville has plenty of talent, and they're a few breaks away from being 2-0 just like the Bills. If Buffalo wants to come out on top Monday night, they'll need to continue their excellent defensive run against yet another talent-rich offense.

Here's our five Jacksonville players to watch this week.

QB Trevor Lawrence Lawrence is an enigma, as his college career and draft pedigree suggest a level of success that he just hasn't yet attained. By the same token, his last two seasons have been quite good, as he's averaged 4,065 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, and a 66% completion rate over his last 33 games.

Football is a team game, so it's tough to pin the Jags' mediocre record over that time solely on Lawrence, but I believe some people unfairly do so. He has the ability to make every throw an NFL quarterback has to make, and he picked the Bills' defense apart last season when the two teams met in London. Lawrence was 25-of-37 for 315 yards and a touchdown in that contest. Buffalo was missing a few key starters in that game, just like they are this week.

Forcing Lawrence into a turnover — he's yet to be intercepted this season in 51 attempts — would be a huge boost to a Bills defense that has been dynamite over its last six quarters.

RB Travis Etienne, Jr. Etienne is really, really good both as a runner and as a receiver out of the backfield. Last year, the Bills lost linebacker Matt Milano mid-game, and by the fourth quarter, Etienne was running rampant through a jet-lagged M.A.S.H. unit.

This year, the jet lag won't be there, but the injuries remain. The Jaguars will likely try to move the ball on the ground before opening up the passing game, especially if they think they can out-muscle the Bills at the point of attack once again.

With neither Milano nor Terrel Bernard — who injured a pectoral muscle last week against Miami — playing this week, linebackers Dorian Williams and Baylon Spector will be the men tasked with bottling that Jacksonville rushing attack at the second level. Neither of those players is particularly good in coverage, so the Jaguars will likely look to try and isolate Etienne in space against them in order to find some chunk plays in the screen game.

WR Gabe Davis This first of Buffalo's two matchups against their 2023 top targets comes this week. "Big Game Gabe" would love to stick it to his former employer, but a Bills secondary that has held wide receivers Marvin Harrison, Jr., Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle in check over the last two weeks will be a tough nut to crack for the fifth-year wideout.

Davis is Jacksonville's current leader in targets (10) and receptions (6), and he's second in receiving yards with 105, trailing only popular Bills Mafia 2024 draft crush Brian Thomas, Jr. Whether it's Rasul Douglas or Christian Benford on Davis, the Bills certainly have the talent in the secondary to handle him. It will be interesting to see how he performs in his first game at Highmark Stadium as a visitor.

DE Josh Hines-Allen The Artist Formerly Known As The Other Josh Allen is a tough mark for anyone, but Buffalo's offensive line has been elite in pass protection so far this year. Hines-Allen has one sack, two pass knockdowns, and six tackles this season, but he's been a nuisance for the Bills each time he's played them.

In the ugly 9-6 debacle from the 2021 season, Hines-Allen had eight tackles, one sack, one interception, and one fumble recovery in helping his team pull off the win. Last year, Hines-Allen had just one tackle, but he was a constant presence who drew attention in the blocking scheme. Hines-Allen is a game-wrecker, and the Bills will have to hope that Spencer Brown and Dion Dawkins can keep him from doing just that in primetime.

CB Ronald Darby Not exactly the former Bill you expected we'd discuss, was it? Darby signed with Jacksonville this offseason after spending the 2023 season with the Baltimore Ravens .

Darby has allowed six catches on 10 targets for a total of 101 yards and a score. He has two pass breakups this year. It's easy to forget just how good he was early in his career with the Bills — he had two interceptions and an absurd 21 pass breakups as a rookie, finishing second to Marcus Peters in the AP's Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2015.

Darby's always been a stingy, grabby man defender who can give people problems if an officiating crew allows some contact. Look for the Bills to try and double-move him at some point, likely with Marquez Valdes-Scantling, to either draw a big penalty or score a big gainer down the field.