Odds Lions Defeat Jaguars

Read more on the Detroit Lions' odds of beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13.

On Sunday, the Lions will square off with the Jacksonville Jaguars, in a battle of upstart, 4-7 teams.

Detroit has won three of its last four games, while Jacksonville has won two of its last three contests and is coming off a come-from-behind victory against the Baltimore Ravens.

Second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence starred in the Week 12 win for the Jaguars. With 0:14 remaining in the contest, he connected with former Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. to make it a one-point deficit (27-26), and then he found fellow wideout Zay Jones for the successful two-point conversion. It gave Jacksonville the 28-27 victory, arguably the most impressive win of Lawrence's young career. 

The Clemson product finished the Week 12 contest with a season-best 321 passing yards and three touchdowns. 

Additionally, over his last three games, he's thrown for 815 yards and six touchdowns (as opposed to zero interceptions), while completing 76.85 percent of his passes.

Lawrence is playing some of the best football of his NFL career, heading into the Jaguars' Week 13 tilt with the Lions at Ford Field.

"I’ll tell you this, he’s been doing a really good job of getting the ball out of his hands, understanding exactly what the coverage is," Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said of Lawrence earlier this week. "And, they do a good job schematically of forcing you to show your hand for the most part. And, he knows exactly where to go with the ball. 

"And, I’ll tell you what, the skill players that they have, they do a good job of not only getting open, but just running with the ball after they receive the ball. Because there’s so many of these shorter passes that he’s getting out, that every now and then, you’ll see him try to throw a shot on you." 

Lawrence's go-to target this year has been receiver Christian Kirk, whom the Jaguars added over the offseason on a four-year, $72 million contract. Kirk paces all Jacksonville pass-catchers with 725 yards and seven touchdowns.

Kirk isn't the biggest offensive weapon that Glenn's defense has to worry about Sunday, though. Instead, it's Jaguars running back Travis Etienne, who left last Sunday's contest with the Ravens prematurely with a sprained foot.

Although Etienne was limited in practice this week, on Friday, he was declared "good to go" for the Week 13 tilt by Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson. 

Etienne, who has accumulated 728 yards and four touchdowns on the ground this season, should be a handful for a Detroit defense that has allowed the third-most rushing yards in 2022 (1,701).

Then, on the opposite side of the ball, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is aware of the fact that the Jaguars, with EDGE rushers Josh Allen and Travon Walker at their disposal, are equipped to wreak havoc against Detroit signal-caller Jared Goff.

"They are long, they are strong, they are quick and they could give us some issues," Johnson told reporters Thursday. "It starts with the front for them, (and) with a lot of the teams we faced over the past few weeks. In a lot of ways, it’s strength-on-strength when you look at it from our perspective, but they do a great job. 

"They’ve got two great EDGE defenders with (Jaguars OLB) Josh Allen and then the rookie, (Jaguars OLB Travon) Walker, he’s coming on. And then, they have depth, as well. They’ve got some really good pass rushers that could potentially wreak some havoc. They’ve done that all year. I don’t know if their sack numbers are up, but the pressure numbers are there. So, we’re very aware of that."

It might be advantageous for Johnson to get the Lions' passing game going early and often in this Week 13 matchup. 

The reason why: Through 11 games this season, the Jaguars have allowed the eighth-most passing yards in the league (2,729). 

And, from Detroit's perspective, who is there better to deploy than first-year Lions wideout DJ Chark, who has a bit of revenge on his mind after leaving Jacksonville this past offseason to sign with Detroit. 

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© Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Chark, who spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Jaguars, knew he needed to move on from Jacksonville.

"I needed a change of scenery,” Chark said this week. “Coming up here, just bringing my family up here, meeting new people, I’ve learned a lot in however many months I’ve been here. Great people. Obviously, like I said, it was tough missing games and being out so long, but I definitely was able to get my swag in training camp and those first few games, and I’m starting to feel better and better now. I think just the sky is the limit. A lot of times, in these tough times, you forget to be present. Still being able to be in this locker room, being 26, I’ve got so much time ahead of me and staying focused and staying here has been big for me.”

From my standpoint, Chark and the Lions have a 55 percent chance to beat the Jaguars this Sunday.