Will the Jaguars celebrate their second win in a row in London?
For years, the Jacksonville Jaguars have been regular guests in London. On Sunday, the franchise of owner Shahid Khan, who also owns the Fulham FC soccer club, will play its twelfth European match in the English capital. Currently, the Jags’ record on the Thames is still positive with six wins and five losses. In the upcoming duel in the stadium of Tottenham Hotspur FC, however, the tip on Trevor Lawrence and Co. is higher among the Bears and the Jaguars.
The resulting underdog role of the team from the AFC South is based primarily on their previous performances this season. While Jacksonville has only won one of five matches so far, the Bears have an impressive 3-2 record. In addition, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is increasingly getting into the swing of things after initial difficulties and put in his best performance in the NFL so far last week. Nevertheless, there are various arguments that justify a prediction for the Bears as the underdog before the London game against the Jaguars.
You can follow the second London game of this NFL season either on free TV on RTL or, of course, on DAZN.
Chicago Bears – Statistics & current form
After many years of dreariness, Chicago Bears fans have reason to be hopeful again. Strictly speaking, this hope goes by the name of Caleb Williams and is the new quarterback of the franchise, which has only made it to the NFL playoffs twice since 2011 (most recently in 2020). The 22-year-old Heisman Trophy winner from 2022 came out of college with plenty of early praise and, as the first pick of the draft, more than hinted at his qualities on the first five days of play.
Can Caleb Williams confirm the emerging hype?
It took until week three for the youngster to throw his first touchdown, but his form has improved significantly in the last three weeks. Last week, Williams finally threw for 304 passing yards and two touchdown passes while completing nearly 70% of his passes and not throwing an interception. However, Chicago also “only” faced the struggling franchise from Carolina. Despite the poor start, they face a different caliber on Sunday afternoon with Jacksonville.
That’s exactly why we would be careful to praise the team of head coach Matt Eberflus, who celebrated all three wins of the season in their own stadium, but lost twice on opposing ground and only scored a total of 29 points. It is also clear that the young quarterback is still subject to certain fluctuations and, especially after an outstanding match, may overestimate himself and take too many risks in the next one.
If you still want to make a prediction for the Bears between the Bears and the Jaguars, you should therefore rather argue with the good defense. In the rankings of yards allowed, passing yards and total points, the defense around superstar Montez Sweat jumps to a top 7 rank in the NFL. There are slight weaknesses against the run, where the Jaguars, of all teams, are very strong.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Statistics & current form
In the early stages of last season, the Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the positive surprises in the entire NFL. The team around quarterback Trevor Lawrence won eight of their first eleven matches, but only managed to win one more of the following six encounters. In the end, the 9-8 record was not even enough to make the playoffs. This season, however, they need to improve significantly after a weak start.
Jaguars have so far sold themselves well below value
In fact, the team of head coach Doug Pederson, who has been the subject of harsh criticism in the meantime, lost all four of their first league games. It was only last week that they managed their first win, a narrow 37-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Nevertheless, they are still bottom of the AFC South.
However, the disappointing 1-4 record must be put into perspective in that, with the exception of the 10-47 defeat against the Bills, the other defeats were only by a maximum of five points. So the Jags were usually close, even though they have not even come close to realizing their potential so far. Nevertheless, there is hope that the aforementioned success against Indy could be the typical breakthrough, especially since Trevor Lawrence finally impressed with 371 passing yards and a rating of almost 120.
The biggest weakness, however, remains the pass defense. The Jaguars defense allowed an incredible 287 yards through the air. Week after week, poor defensive performances lead to great performances by opposing quarterbacks. Only if defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen can get a grip on these gaps in the secondary can the franchise from the southern United States still have a successful season. If you don’t want to commit to a winner or a handicap in view of the many eventualities, you can find odds of 1.50 for the over 40.5 points between the Bears and the Jaguars in the Betano app.
Chicago Bears – Jacksonville Jaguars Direct comparison / H2H record
The head-to-head between these two teams can be confidently neglected as they are in different conferences. So far, there have only been eight meetings, five of which the Chicago Bears have won. However, the fact that the Bears vs. Jaguars betting odds are in no way influenced by the head-to-head comparison is partly because a lot has changed in terms of personnel since the last game in 2020 and, on Sunday, neither franchise will enjoy the typical home field advantage.
Chicago Bears – Jacksonville Jaguars Tip
The first Sunday game in the NFL will see the Chicago Bears take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at 3:30 p.m. at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The mood in both camps could hardly be more different. While there is a sense of optimism in the Windy City thanks to quarterback Caleb Williams, the mood in Jacksonville is tense after four defeats in the first five games. At least the first win of the season from the previous week should give all Jags fans hope.
In general, we don’t see a clear favorite in the direct duel, which is due to the fact that Caleb Williams, at 22 years old, still has a relatively high error rate in his game. Although the Jaguars defense has done a catastrophic job through the air over the season so far, Williams may be inviting this by overthinking his passing game. Interceptions or incompletions seem inevitable.
Because, in addition, the Jaguars have two really good running backs in Etienne and Bigsby, and Trevor Lawrence and Co. know the conditions in London, unlike the majority of the Bears, we are not averse to betting on a Jacksonville win in the Bears-Jaguars clash.
