The Jacksonville Jaguars dominated the Carolina Panthers in week 1, walking away with an easy 26-10 victory. Their win never looked to be in doubt, and the team seemed to roll easily over Bryce Young and company.
While the offense had its flashes—especially running back Travis Etienne Jr.—it was the defense that truly stood out, snatching two interceptions, recovering a forced fumble, and earning two turnovers on downs.
The Jaguars' defense has plenty of storylines, perhaps none was as overlooked as the performance of star defensive end Josh Hines-Allen. On the surface, his stat line against the Carolina Panthers was unimpressive—zero sacks and only one quarterback hit—but when you dig deeper, one often ignored metric proves just how dominant he was on the field.
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Josh Hines-Allen was a top pass rusher vs. the Panthers
Sacks are flashy, but they don’t always capture the full impact of a pass rusher. That’s why Johs Hines-Allen’s pressure rate against Carolina stands out. He generated eight quarterback pressures and had a pass rush win rate approaching 30 percent.
That meant he affected Bryce Young on nearly a third of the snaps that he was on the field. That kind of disruption doesn’t just affect the quarterback—it tilts the entire game in Jacksonville’s favor. Young rarely had a clean pocket, and that persistent pressure forced rushed throws, checkdowns, and stalled drives.
Take a look at the first of the highlights below (and then watch all of them, of course). Sure, cornerback Jourdan Lewis made a play on the ball and broke up what might have been a big gain. But that ball was pretty severely underthrown—a direct result of Hines-Allen getting there early.
According the NFL Pro, #Jaguars DE Josh Hines Allen had the second-most pressures (8) and second-highest pressure rate (28.6%) of any pre-MNF defender pic.twitter.com/pXZ7UMEbt8
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) September 8, 2025
Give Bryce Young another half-second, and maybe he puts it on the money, regardless of Lewis's acrobatic pass breakup.
For the last two years, Hines-Allen made an appearance on the NFL's Top 100 players, first at no. 35 and then again at no. 63. With a more aggressive—and creative—defensive coordinator and an offense that can rack up enough points to put him in more obvious pass-rushing situations, I expect to see him back on the list again this year.
Can we hope he cracks the top 20? Time will tell, but if Hines-Allen keeps up his stellar pass run win rate and continues to harass opposing quarterbacks, we might be seeing the resurgence of an already dominant player.
Related:Tank Bigsby trade was the ultimate vote of confidence in Jaguars rookie
Final thoughts
Josh-Hines Allen didn’t just make his presence felt against the Panthers—he redefined it. For a Jaguars team with playoff ambitions despite where talking heads keep putting them in the Power Rankings, the Kentucky Wildcat alum's dominance is the kind of foundation a championship-caliber defense is built on.
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