By Mark Gaughan
Despite having the lowest-ranked offense in the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars pose a threat to the Buffalo Bills' secondary on Sunday.
The Jaguars' passing game has been revived the past two weeks since veteran Chad Henne took over for second-year man Blaine Gabbert. Henne has 615 passing yards in two games.
Jacksonville's starting receivers are Justin Blackmon, the fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft, and second-year man Cecil Shorts III, a fourth-round pick out of Division III Mount Union last year.
Shorts leads the NFL with a 20.8 yards-per-catch average. Fourteen of his 36 catches have gone for 20 or more yards. He has a TD catch of 50 or more yards in three straight games and four catches of 50-plus yards overall. (Those went for 80, 52, 67 and 59 yards).
"He’s a good yards-after-the-catch guy," said Bills safety Jairus Byrd. "A lot of their big plays have been runs after the catch."
"He does a good job of getting open and getting separation from corners," said cornerback Leodis McKelvin. "They get the ball in his hands nad he makes guys miss. It’s the YAC that really been making him successful."
Blackmon, the former Oklahoma State star, has more than half of his receiving yards the past two weeks. He had seven catches for 236 yards against Houston two weeks ago and five for 62 last week vs. Tennessee.
"In college he was the offense," said cornerback Aaron Williams, who faced Blackmon in college. "For every rookie, it’s a slow transition from college to the NFL. I went through it. He’s gone through it. But now you see him catching more balls and making more plays. He’s always been a playmaker."
