Blake Bortles, Allen Hurns connection will be lethal tonight

Andrew Luck‘s injury has made the AFC South crown a reality for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who currently find themselves third in the division with a 3-6 record. While the Houston Texans are one game up and the 2-7 Tennessee Titans won’t be a cakewalk with Marcus Mariota leading the way, the Jags are favored by some to take this division. Why? Well, with how well the offense has looked in Blake Bortles‘s second season, it’s hard not to go with the team with the quarterback who is slinging the ball better than the other signal-callers in the division.

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Tonight, the Jaguars will take on the Titans at home in a marquee Thursday Night Football battle against two teams who are trying to prove why they shouldn’t be forked. Bortles will go up against a defense that is 20th in the NFL in net yards per pass attempt allowed, as per Pro-Football Reference, which can be considered a huge improvement from where they were last year.

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Interim head coach Mike Mularkey led the Titans, who are fifth in the league in yards allowed per game, to an overtime win over the New Orleans Saints a couple of weeks ago, so he’s hungry for another win after falling to the undefeated Carolina Panthers in Week 10.

Although the Titans defense has made strides, it would be a disappointment if the Jaguars didn’t score a healthy amount of points. There’s no doubt that the Jags have one of the league’s least effective defenses, and they are still building their personnel on that side of the ball after finding a nucleus of Bortles, feature back T.J. Yeldon, stud receiver Allen Robinson, fellow star wideout Allen Hurns, and big-money free agent signing Julius Thomas on offense.

That nucleus is fully expected to shoulder the load going forward, and they are always under immense pressure to score. Thankfully for the Jaguars, the Titans are a bottom-five offense in most statistical categories, but Bortles will have to deliver the goods in primetime.

Jason McCourty‘s season-ending injury and Blidi Wreh-Wilson‘s inability to play this week will open things up big-time for the entire Jaguars offense. However, no player will be aided more than No. 2 receiver Hurns, who has performed like a No. 1 guy with 41 receptions for 697 yards and seven touchdowns. Playing across from beastly target-hog like Robinson always helps, which is why Hurns has both a higher catch rate and more yards per reception than his more touted teammate.

Robinson, make no mistake, is the most talented player on the Jaguars offense, but Perrish Cox is only listed probable on the injury report. Hurns will also head into the game slightly banged up with a probable listing, but this is his game for the taking. According to Football Outsiders, the Titans have the worst DVOA against No. 2 receivers this season. Their lack of depth at corner will hurt them badly against Hurns, and it’s not like Michael Griffin and the defense have been particularly good at stopping the deep ball either.

This is the type of game Hurns can own, and the national spotlight on this game would help further increase his star. He could make a splash play or two against a secondary that has been the NFL’s worst on deep passes in terms of DVOA. With the sixth-most yards per reception allowed, the Titans could end up playing into the hands of the Jaguars.

Oct 25, 2015; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) during the second half of the game Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports

As a whole, the Titans pass defense isn’t terrible, and they do an excellent job of limiting opposing receivers after the catch and have positives in other facets of the game. Unfortunately for them, they could have major problems against Hurns, who has enjoyed a wildly successful second season after emerging as a rookie UDFA surprise.

Bortles is coming off of a dreadful performance against a Baltimore Ravens defense he absolutely should have carved up, and perhaps some could be concerned about his output on a short week against a significantly better defense.

I’m not worried, because even though he had a sub-50% completion percentage a few weeks ago against the Buffalo Bills, it’s hard to forget just how brilliant he was against an elite New York Jets defense after the bye in Week 9 (381 yards and 9.5 yards per attempt more than make up for a pair of picks).

We’ll see what this Jaguars offense has in store for us in a must-win game tonight, and I hope we get to see the Bortles-Hurns connection at its best.

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The second-year Miami Hurricanes standout has caught a touchdown in each of his past seven games with a season average of 77.4 receiving yards per game, so he seems like a safe bet to perform at a high level against a defense that surrendered 95 receiving yards to New Orleans Saints solid No. 2 wideout Willie Snead a couple of weeks ago.

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