Jaguars at Chargers
The San Diego Chargers' opening-day fate and perhaps that of their season changed on one play when star receiver Keenan Allen suffered a torn ACL midway through the second quarter in last week's devastating loss at Kansas City. Sans their top wideout, the Chargers will look to rebound when it entertains the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars in their home opener Sunday.
Allen had already snared six passes and the Chargers seemed ready to cruise to an upset at Kansas City when the veteran suffered a non-contact tear near midfield last week. San Diego subsequently blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost in overtime 33-27. The Jaguars fell short in their comeback bid against Green Bay in their opener, stalling at the Packers' 14-yard-line on their final drive in the 27-23 setback. Blake Bortles, however, picked up where he left off last season, throwing for 320 yards and two touchdowns in a promising season opener that Jacksonville fans hope will end in a playoff berth.
TV: 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Chargers -3. O/U: 47.
ABOUT THE JAGUARS (0-1): Running back Chris Ivory spent last week's opener in the hospital with a non-football medical issue and is questionable for Sunday's game along with tight end Julius Thomas, who caught a touchdown pass last week. The Jaguars are hoping that Ivory can team with T.J. Yeldon to take some of the burden off Bortles, who finished tied for second in the NFL last season with 35 touchdown passes while ranking sixth in total attempts. Jacksonville, which ran for a paltry 39 yards on 21 carries against Green Bay, has never fared well traveling to the West Coast, going 2-14 since 2004.
ABOUT THE CHARGERS (0-1): Travis Benjamin moves up to the No. 1 receiver and Dontrelle Inman (35 catches for 486 yards and three touchdowns in 2015) will replace Allen in three-wide receiver sets, but veteran quarterback Philip Rivers vows not to scale back his furious passing attack. Rivers has lit up the Jaguars recently, completing 74 percent of his passes for 962 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions as San Diego has beaten Jacksonville by an average of 14.3 points over past three seasons. Overall, however, it's been a different story as the Chargers have won just two of their past 13 games and the heat is turning up on coach Mike McCoy.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Former Chargers general manager A.J. Smith said that league sources have told him the team will remain in San Diego, but the rumors about an inevitable move to Los Angeles persist.
2. Jaguars WR Allen Robinson finished the opener with six catches for 72 yards but had a whopping 15 of Bortles' 39 passes thrown his way.
3. Chargers top draft pick Joey Bosa is dealing with a soft tissue injury in his hamstring and is not expected to suit up.