In Sunday’s crucial home game vs. Carolina, the Jacksonville Jaguars (8-7 straight up, 8-7 against the spread) will be without Trevor Lawrence, the third-year quarterback who will have his streak of 49 consecutive starts snapped due to a shoulder injury.
Six-year veteran QB C.J. Beathard will get the 13th start of his career and his first since 2020. When the Iowa product was with San Francisco from 2018-20, the 49ers lost in 10 of his 12 starts.
Beathard has appeared in six games for Jacksonville this year, completing 23-of-29 passes (79.3%) for 171 yards and one touchdown without an interception.
The 24-year-old Lawrence has completed 65.5 percent of his passes this season for 3,736 yards with a 19/12 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He also has 329 rushing yards, four TDs and a 4.9 yards-per-carry average.
After Lawrence was injured in last week’s 30-12 loss at Tampa Bay, Beathard connected on 11-of-15 throws for 94 yards and one TD without an interception.
In 31 career NFL appearances, Beathard has completed 59.9 percent of his passes for 3,708 yards with a 19/14 TD-INT ratio. He has 242 career rushing yards, four TDs and a 4.0 YPC average.
As of late Friday afternoon, most books had the Jags installed as four-point favorites with a total of 36. The Panthers were +175 on the money line.
Jacksonville was -6.5 and the total was 37.5 at most shops this morning.
Doug Pederson’s club has limped to a 2-5 record both SU and ATS in seven home games, while Carolina (2-13 SU, 4-9-2 ATS) is winless with a 1-6-1 spread record in eight road assignments.
However, the Panthers have covered the number in back-to-back games and three of their last four, including a 21-18 loss at Tampa Bay, a 9-7 home win vs. Atlanta and a 33-30 loss vs. Green Bay.
Jacksonville is in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC South with Houston and Indianapolis. The Texans are hosting the Titans on Sunday, while the Colts are at home vs. Las Vegas.
The Jags will play their regular-season finale next week at Tennessee.