The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to have to play a lot better

if they are going to beat the New England Patriots in the rematch of the AFC title game next weekend.The opening weekend was ugly. Loads of penalties. Offensive struggles. A hamstring injury to leading rusher Leonard Fournette Cheap Ja'Whaun Bentley Jersey , and a near meltdown by the vaunted defense after linebacker Myles Jack gave Jacksonville a 20-9 lead with a 32-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter.For now, the Jaguars will settle for a 20-15 season-opening victory over the Giants on Sunday that spoiled the New York debuts of coach Pat Shurmur and halfback Saquon Barkley and the return of star receiver Odell Beckham Jr."We were talking about it in the locker room," said quarterback Blake Bortles , who threw a short touchdown pass and helped Jacksonville take a 13-6 halftime lead. "You never really know how Week 1 is going to go. You have an idea. You know you've been going against a pretty good defense all camp and all preseason long. But to come out and find a way to win when you didn't have your 'A' game as an offense, I think it's pretty special."The Jaguars won because their defense, which scored seven touchdowns last season, carried them. It limited New York to three field goals and stopped a late drive after Beckham caught passes of 21 and 19 yards to help the Giants reach the Jacksonville 36.However, the Jaguars held, unlike in the AFC title game, when the Patriots scored the final 14 points to advance to the Super Bowl.If there was a negative, it was giving up a 68-yard touchdown run to Barkley less than a minute after Jack scored. The rookie finished with 106 yards on 18 carries.Still, the win gave Jacksonville a positive note ahead of a home matchup with New England, which beat the Houston Texans 27-20.Jack, who scored on a pass tipped by Abry Jones, is looking forward to it."It's definitely on my mind. As soon as that clock hit double zero, I was already thinking about New England," he said. "I can't wait for that game, and I'm looking forward to Jacksonville being out there."Coming off a 3-13 season, the Giants refused to take solace in a good effort Kyle Van Noy Jersey , not with a game at Dallas next weekend."It's disappointing when you lose," Shurmur said. "The one good thing is our team fought from the front to the back. They fought all the way through the game. Unfortunately as is the case in a lot of these games that are close, we just didn't make enough plays."Here's some things we learned in the Jaguars win:O-LINE WOES: The Giants offense line remains a work in progress. The revamped group needs to give Eli Manning (23 of 37 for 224) time to find his talented receivers and open holes for Barkley.Facing a tough pass defense, Manning spent most of the game hitting short passes. There wasn't much time to look downfield.Ereck Flowers didn't have a smooth transition going from left to right tackle. He was whistled for a tripping call and a hold on the opening drive. Left tackle Nate Solder also picked up a holding call.TOO MANY FLAGS: The Jaguars biggest problem was penalties. They were called 11 times for 119 yards."We know that we can be better than that," coach Doug Marrone said. "At the end of day, we were able to get the win. If you keep on that track, that stuff will bite you."BECKHAM BACK: Stop worrying about the left ankle Beckham broke in October. In his first game in almost 11 months, the NFL's top-paid receiver was the best player on the field. He caught 11 passes for 111 yards and drew two pass interference penalties late in the first half to set up a field goal."Just being out there and competing with the best, I wish we would have gotten a win, but at the same time it's a good starting point for our team," Beckham said.INJURIES: Marrone wasn't concerned about Fournette, who finished with nine carries for 41. Backup T.J. Yeldin led the team with 14 carries for 51 yards and Bortles had four for 42. Jacksonville rushed for 137 yards."He's had it before, he knows how to treat it," Marrone said of Fournette. "That makes things pretty optimistic, which normally I'm not that optimistic."GIANTS NEW DEE: Coordinator James Bettcher's 3-4 scheme limited the Jaguars to 305 yards, including 121 in the second half. Janoris Jenkins had an interception and the Jags tight ends and receivers combined for 12 catches, with only two plays being 20 or more yards.Kenjon Barner’s recent punt-return history should lend Patriots a hand Kenjon Barner returned three punts through his first four NFL seasons.But there’s reason to think the New England Patriots agreed to terms with the veteran running back on Tuesday because of the work he fielded deep during his fifth.Barner re-signed with the Philadelphia Eagles late last September after ageless all-purpose threat Darren Sproles landed on injured reserve with a broken arm and torn ACL. He would finish his 2017 campaign having returned 28 punts for 250 yards – and with a Super Bowl LII ring.Prior to then, Barner had 19 yards on his NFL resume in that department.It’d been awhile.The 2013 sixth-round pick returned zero punts as a senior at Oregon and lost yardage in limited reps there as a junior. Yet between Barner’s freshman and sophomore seasons with the Ducks, he took 23 punts back for 269 yards and a touchdown.That background is of use in Foxborough after New England waived Riley McCarron on Monday – the same day Barner was in for a free-agent workout. McCarron http://www.patriotscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-trent-brown-jersey , a recent practice-squad promotion, had a punt bounce off his facemask in the fourth quarter of the opener versus the Houston Texans, reminiscent of growing pains the likes of Chris Harper and Cyrus Jones endured in 2015 and 2016.Barner wasn’t immune with the Eagles in 2017, either.He muffed three punts last year courtesy of specialists Michael Palardy, Chris Jones and Marquette King.Two arrived on fair-catch attempts that drifted outside the numbers well inside the 20-yard line against the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys. The other arrived against the Oakland Raiders as Barner looked to rebound a one-hopper.All were recovered by the Philadelphia’s unit, and Barner himself recovered a pair of them.But no recoveries were needed on Oct. 8 against the Arizona Cardinals when Barner earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Barner amassed 110 punt-return yards on just three goes of it in that 34-7 win for Philadelphia.It marked fourth-highest single-game tally in franchise history.Barner got 76 yards worth on one that looked dead in the water as Arizona’s Ifeanyi Momah and Tyvon Branch cornered him at Philadelphia’s own 15. He would tightrope the sideline and find a cutback lane to the inside, however.And on a diagonal course the well-traveled runner went to Arizona’s own 15.“With Kenjon, obviously we know him,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said of Barner during his day-after press conference. “We’ve had him in here before, so we really felt comfortable with bringing him back in and understanding what he can do. He’s just gotten better in these last couple weeks, had great production in the game.” Barner, who compiled 50 total touchdowns as a rusher, receiver, kickoff and punt returner during his Ducks career, spent his rookie year with the Panthers. He was then swapped for a conditional seventh-round pick and logged his next three years with the Eagles.A spring-to-summer stop with the San Diego Chargers followed before Sproles’ injury sent him back to Philadelphia last fall.In his return, Barner appeared in every game despite touching the ball just 21 times on offense. He averaged 8.9 yards per on punts. And nine of his opportunities doing so, including playoffs, netted a pickup of double-digit yards.Barner, who was in training camp with Carolina before being let go on Labor Day weekend David Andrews Jersey , may get his next opportunity Sunday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars.He finds himself the fourth running back on New England’s active roster for it, with Jeremy Hill placed on injured reserve to begin the week.“We won’t put anyone on the field if we don’t have trust in them, number one,” Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge said of the responsibility during his conference call Tuesday, prior to news of Barner signing. “My job as a coach is to prepare everybody on the field the best I can and establish as much depth at every position as best I can, not just for finding the best 11 that are available at the time, but looking past that and seeing the ripple effect that may happen through inactives or in-game injuries or situational adjustments we’re going to have to have.“So, we’re always preparing multiple guys on the team. We’re always working ahead and thinking the ‘if, then, what’ type scenarios.”If, then or what, Barner should soon become the 10th player to return a punt in regular-season action for the Patriots since the start of 2015.Julian Edelman, Patrick Chung, Danny Amendola, Keshawn Martin, Damaris Johnson, Bernard Reedy and the aforementioned Harper, Jones and McCarron precede him.