4 things the Packers need to prove against lowly Jaguars in Week 8

The Packers head to Jacksonville in Week 8 coming off their best win of the season over the Texans. The Jaguars are returning home after a big win over the Patriots in London. This has all the makings of a trap game for Green Bay if they are not on top of their game.

FanDuel has the Packers as 4.5 point favorites heading into Sunday afternoon's game. That line might seem low to fans who view the records of both franchises. The Packers come into the contest at 5-2 while the Jaguars have the inverse record of 2-5. Oddsmakers clearly are pricing in the boost Jacksonville will get from returning to the United States and playing in front of a home crowd.

Green Bay deserves to be the firm favorites heading into the Week 8 clash but this game will not be a walk in the park for head coach Matt LaFleur and his squad. Here are five things the Packers must do to keep things rolling against the Jaguars.

Packers objective No. 1: Get Josh Jacobs going

Jordan Love and Green Bay's passing attack get a lot of attention from the national media but the first thing LaFleur and his offensive staff want do do every week is to estbalish the run. Getting Josh Jacobs going early on Sunday is the best way to keep the Jaguars and their home fans from building any momentum.

The veteran running back has racked up 540 yards this season on a healthy average of 4.5 yards per carry. He benefits from the attention that Love and the pass-catchers draw from opposing defenses. That does not diminish the fact that Jacobs has largely lived up to his free agent salary on the young season.

Expect the Packers to try to soften the Jaguars' defense up by running Jacobs early on the first couple drives of Sunday's game. If he can keep the offense ahead of the chains and produce an explosive play or two in the first quarter it will give his team a major lift.

Packers objective No. 2: Win the turnover battle

One of the quickest ways to engineer an upset in the modern NFL is to win the turnover battle. The Jaguars defense will be keen to secure short fields for their offense via takeaways in this game. It is imperative for Jordan Love and his offense to take care of the football.

While Love has played well over the course of the first seven games of the season his eight interceptions are a blemish on his stat line. Jacksonville will try to heat him up with pressure to force Love to get rid of the ball before he's comfortable. Green Bay's offensive line needs to pick those blitzes up to avoid putting their quarterback in compromising situations.

On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will like his unit's chances of forcing Trevor Lawrence into errant throws. Xavier McKinney is a safety to keep an eye on in this game. He excels at baiting quarterbacks into risky throws and that will be a major part of Green Bay's defensive game plan.

Packers objective No. 3: Shut down Tank Bigbsy

Travis Etienne may have the most name recognition in Jacksonville's running back room, but Tank Bigsby has been the team's top rusher this season. The Packers' defense needs to keep Bigsby below his season average of 6.2 yards per carry if they want to avoid the upset.

That will require a group effort by the Green Bay defense. Kenny Clark will be the first line of defense as he looks to clog up the middle of the front with his massive frame. Isaiah McDuffie will also be a central component of the effort from his middle linebacker spot. Neither needs to do anything exceptional against Bigsby. If they do their job on the interior of the team's front seven it should be enough to stop Bigsby from running wild.

Packers objective No. 4: Help Jayden Reed bounce back

Green Bay's offense enjoyed a lot of success against Houston last week but it was Jayden Reed's worst game of the season. It's crucial for the Packers to get their most dynamic wide receiver the ball in space against Jacksonville if they want to win this game with any measure of comfort.

Chances are, Green Bay will go out of their way to get Reed in the flow early. A couple short perimeter screens should help the young wide receiver ease into the flow of the game. Sprinkle in an end-around or two on the ground and it could be enough to get Reed on his way to a breakout performance.

The Jaguars defense will try to key on him early to stop him from getting off to a good start. Darnell Savage knows the Packers very well so he may be tasked to follow Reed around from his nickel cornerback spot. He's a good, phsyical player but he does not possess the explosiveness to contain Reid in space. This is a matchup there Green Bay can enjoy a lot of success if they can manufactore plays to get Reed the ball in pace on the outside.