Green Bay Packers: 3 X-Factors against Struggling Jaguars

These particular Green Bay Packers players will be X-Factors on Sunday when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

After playing last Thursday night, the Green Bay Packers got the benefit of having a much-needed mini-bye and the opportunity to get healthy. Or at least healthier. Through eight games, the Packers are 6-2, led by one of the most productive offenses in the NFL that should only get better with the eventual return of Allen Lazard and David Bakhtiari.

While Green Bay is in a prime position to make a run at the NFC’s top seed, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ season is going in the exact opposite direction. After winning their first game, they’ve since lost seven in a row, several of which have been blowouts.

Without a doubt, this is a game that the Green Bay Packers should win, and against what many stats suggest is the worst defense in football, they should do so quite easily. However, as we’ve all seen on numerous occasions, no NFL team should be taken lightly.

As is the case in any game, the star players will have to play well. But which non-stars can have the biggest impact on Sunday? Well, those players are my X-Factors, and I have a few this week that I want to highlight because they will play important roles.

Montravius Adams/Dean Lowry/Kingsley Keke

With rookie quarterback Jake Luton making only his second career NFL start, the Jaguars are going to continue doing what they’ve done all season long, and that’s hand the ball off to James Robinson. Robinson has 132 rushing attempts this season, including a career-high last week against Houston of 25, and he’s been very good with all of those opportunities, averaging 4.4 yards per carry along with 580 total rushing yards, which is the sixth most in football.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the ball, although the overall rushing numbers aren’t as bad as they were in 2019 for this Packer defense, opponents are still running the ball efficiently against them, averaging 4.55 yards per carry, the 10th highest average this season.

Kenny Clark is still returning to form after being sidelined for much of the season with an injury, but even at his best, he still needs someone to step up alongside of him. And while the Packers don’t need all three of the players mentioned in the headline to be on their “A” games, at least one of them will need to provide some help against the run.

As I’ve already said, the Green Bay Packers should win this game easily, but one way that it can end up closer than what it should is if the Jaguars find success on the ground and put together a few long drives, keeping Aaron Rodgers and the offense on the sidelines.