Saints vs Jaguars Game Day Newsletter 5Oct13Saints_Digital | Page 15

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Jaguars are
2-3 through fi ve weeks of the 2019 NFL season.
Consider some of the highlights that happened
for this football team thus far:
That’s all fi ne and dandy – how we got here, the
questions ahead, what the perception of some
“power rankings” are – but here’s why none of
that truly matters:
“You are what your record says you are.”
The big-time free agent quarterback gets hurt
in the fi rst quarter of the season. The backup,
sixth-round rookie quarterback has become a
national sensation after some stellar play. The
running game found traction the last two weeks
and maybe something for the coming weeks.
The Jaguars were inches away from a win on
the road in the division in Houston. The star
cornerback has asked for a trade and is now
dealing with a back injury. The defense that
sacked Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota nine
times on Thursday Night Football in a Week 3
win could not stop the run last week against the
Panthers in a Week 5 loss, when the Jaguars
somehow had multiple shots at the end zone
to try to tie the game in the fi nal seconds. The
kicker hit a game-winning fi eld goal in Denver
Week 4.
Everything is still out there for this football
team, but righting the ship today against the
New Orleans Saints (4-1) would be an excellent
start.
If the Jaguars can get to the Week 10 bye with
a winning record – or close to it – then trying to
chip away at a favorable late-season schedule,
with three December home games, is certainly
realistic.
We all have questions though: Does Gardner
Minshew II continue to play well, and what
happens if he does – will he stay in the lineup,
or does Nick Foles return to the fi eld when
healthy? Can the defense fi nd some consistency
and get back to smothering offenses like
they feel like they should do every week?
Can Leonard Fournette continue his positive
momentum and carry this offense when he
needs to and when the opposing defense
knows it?
Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells said that, and
it is the cold, hard truth of the National Football
League.
At the end of the week, how they got to 2-3 does
not truly matter. The Jaguars have won two
games and lost three, and that’s only good for
third place in the AFC South currently.
There is plenty of season left, but a win today
against the Saints would be a good place to
start heading back in the right direction.
Offense
The Gardner Minshew II story has become a
national phenomenon, and the mustache and
jean shorts and bandana and jock straps are
becoming an ever-smaller part of it.
After a 374-yard passing day last week against
the Panthers, Minshew became the fi rst player
in NFL history to throw for at least 200 passing
yards with a passer rating of at least 95.0 in
each of his fi rst fi ve career games.
The receivers are playing at a high level to help
him out as well, and the Jaguars for the most
part have protected the football in the passing
game – only one interception thrown.
The one downfall last week: three lost fumbles
by the quarterback.
“Those are all on me, that can’t happen,”
Minshew said. “When stuff like that happens,
sometimes you don’t give yourself a chance to
win. That’s what I feel like we did, what I did.”
Minshew still had a chance to throw in the end
zone multiple times at the end of last week’s