Fan Friday: Answering your questions about the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of Week 7

The past few weeks haven't fallen in the Jaguars' favor. They currently sit at 2-4 in the midst of a three-game losing streak. This week won't get any easier. Jacksonville faces off against the 5-1 New York Giants, a team that has proven opportunistic through the first six games of the season.

Last week, during the Jaguars' 34-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, pessimism appeared to grow due to the nature of the team's loss. Jacksonville's defense this week — instead of the team's offense which plagued the club in Weeks 4 and 5 — appeared to be the culprit, with an inability to stop the Colts' offense throughout the contest.

More Jaguars coverage: 

• Trevor on the run: Lawrence getting better opportunities to make plays on the ground

• Favorites: Oddsmakers have Jaguars favored at home against N.Y. Giants despite recent struggles

• By the numbers: What did we learn about the Jaguars' Week 6 loss to the Colts?

This week is about the Giants, though, and how the team can get over the hump to excite a fanbase hungry for success. With that said, let's get to the bottom of what's on your mind, hopefully, to get clarity on how good or bad this team is and their chances of winning on Sunday at TIAA Bank Field.

Note: To submit questions, stay tuned to my Twitter page at @Demetrius82 or email me directly at dsharvey@gannett.com.

Caleb from Blackshear, Ga. 

Question: How will the Giants' offensive line hold up against the Jacksonville pass rush?

Demetrius: Hi Caleb, thanks for your question! The Giants are an odd team. They're one of the best rushing teams and one of the most pedestrian passing teams. Their pass-blocking sort of tracks in that direction, too, with Giants quarterback Daniel Jones taking the seventh-most sacks this season with 19.

Now, not all of those sacks are on the team's OL, though. Jones is responsible for some of them, and tackle Andrew Thomas is playing at an elite level right now. The rest of the line, including first-round pick Evan Neal are questionable, which gives Jacksonville a good opportunity to get back on track.

The Jaguars' pass rush has appeared dormant over the past couple of weeks. They've had just two weeks (Week 2 Colts and 3 Eagles) where they've had multiple sacks. Against the Colts in Week 6, the team wasn't able to sack the quarterback once. Still, this week seems like a good opportunity, especially if the team gets the Giants in obvious passing downs, to rack up some sacks.

Ryan Day from Jacksonville, Fla. 

Q: What is the biggest offseason need for the Jaguars? What position (or player) would make a difference with the roster as it currently stands?

D: I wasn't expecting an offseason question in Week 7, but here we are. I think the Jaguars' biggest needs in the offseason align with a couple of their bigger needs this past offseason.

The team has an issue at receiver, particularly as it pertains down the field and catching 50-50 balls, but left guard and cornerback are also areas the team could stand to upgrade even with Ben Bartch expected to be fully healthy next year.

The Jaguars adequately addressed some key needs, including its skill players this year, but they can stand to add more. There aren't any particular players at the moment that I can point to, but those are the positions I believe will be considered needs throughout the year.

Gus from Jacksonville, Fla.

Q: Stopping Saquon will obviously be the defense’s biggest priority but do we also need to worry about the secondary vs Daniel Jones?

D: Saquon Barkley has been one of the best running backs in the game this year. He's accounted for 616 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns and currently leads the NFL in rushing attempts with 119 through six games. He has also added 21 receptions for 155 yards.

He will be the player to circle for Jacksonville this week. Still, absolutely, the team should worry about the secondary against Jones.

The Giants QB has completed 67.3 percent of his passes this year with 1,021 yards, five touchdowns and just two interceptions. He's fumbled just twice this year, which is an upgrade over previous seasons, especially his rookie year when he fumbled an NFL-high 19 times.

Simply put, Jones isn't turning the ball over as often as he has in the past, and that's paid dividends for the Giants as the team is able to control the football and stick to its game plan.

Because of Jones' ability to get out of the pocket and make plays with his legs, the Jacksonville secondary might be forced to buy more time than typical. Jones has 47 rushing attempts for 236 yards and two touchdowns this year. If Jacksonville can't slow down the Giants' run game early, they could be in trouble as the game moves forward against the pass.

Eric from Virginia 

Q: Do we have a plan/replacement for Shaq Griffin and his horrible coverage?

D: Hi Eric, thanks for the question. Honestly, it's fair to say what happened on the field with Griffin last week was "horrible," he didn't play well and admitted as much following last week's contest. Currently, the Jaguars have veteran corners Tre Herndon and Chris Claybrooks, while they also have rookie CB Montaric Brown waiting in the wings.

It's doubtful the team opts to play any of them over Griffin, but for the sake of argument, if Griffin is hurt — as seen against the Los Angeles Chargers - or gets benched, look for the Jaguars to use Herndon outside in nickel packages and nickel CB Darious Williams outside in base as they did against the Chargers in Week 3.

Jonathan from Jacksonville, Fla.

Q: How similar are the Jags and Giants? It’s almost like if one QB mistake or one bad defensive play were switched between the teams, their records could be flipped. Do you agree?

D: Ding, ding ding. You hit the nail on the head, Jonathan. The Jaguars and the Giants are eerily similar squads. All of the Giants' games were within one possession, while all four of Jacksonville's losses were by one possession. The difference between the two teams is that the Giants have found a way to win, and Jacksonville hasn't.

Neither team boasts overly impressive metrics aside from the Giants' ability to run the football and Jacksonville's ability to stop the run. The teams match up fairly well, and the Jaguars might actually have the edge due to how explosive the offense has looked in both phases — run and pass — whereas New York has shown an ability to run and supplement it through the air only sometimes this season.

A mistake here and there for New York and they easily could be 0-6. A mistake by Jacksonville's opponents here and there could have the team sitting at 5-1 or 6-0. Such is life in the NFL.

Mike P. from Jacksonville, Fla.

Q: Will you please explain why pass-rush win rate is important if there aren't sacks generated? Is it just noise? In your article said the team had 20 pressures, but it didn't seem like we did much on that front this past Sunday against the Colts.

D: Hi Mike! Thanks for asking, and I'm glad you did so. I did state that Jacksonville accounted for 20 pressures on Colts QB Matt Ryan this past Sunday. That is according to Pro Football Focus, and other analytics websites and the film appears to back that up.

The Jaguars also had zero sacks on Ryan, which obviously creates confusion when trying to understand why pressure without sacks isn't always the worst thing in the world. Jacksonville was not successful at bringing Ryan down, but they were successful in rushing his throws, even if they were quick, to begin with.

The reason why the Colts ran all of those shallow crossers and quick routes to the flat of the Jacksonville defense is that they feared what the Jaguars could do if they were to have typical five-seven-step drops. Typically, pressures can be translated into mistakes by the opposing quarterback.

We saw that in Week 2 when Ryan threw three interceptions, all thanks to pressure applied to him. That's why pressures are important. If it works in conjunction with the coverage - which it did not on Sunday - then it can result in turnovers and abysmal offense. There's some give there, but that's the gist.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars fan mailbag ahead of Week 7 against the New York Giants