Minshew, defense carry Jaguars to victory over Titans
Gardner Minshew threw two first-quarter touchdowns Thursday night and the Jacksonville Jaguars' defense took it from there, stifling the error-prone Tennessee Titans for a 20-7 win at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
Jacksonville (1-2) struck first, taking the lead less than two minutes into the game and never letting go. Minshew, starting his second NFL game in place of the injured Nick Foles, completed 20 of 30 passes for 204 yards with no interceptions and a quarterback rating of 108.2.
It was a completely different story for Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota, who suffered nine sacks for 55 yards and couldn't find any traction against the aggressive Jaguars' defense. Mariota hit 23 of 40 passes for 304 yards, 81 of those on a meaningless final drive, with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Jacksonville also shut down Derrick Henry, who tied an NFL record with a 99-yard run in the teams' last meeting last December and set a franchise single-game record with 238 yards. Henry managed only 44 yards on 17 attempts.
Minshew hit tight end James O'Shaughnessy with a 7-yard touchdown pass just 1:58 into the game for a 7-0 lead, one play after Titans punt returner Adoree' Jackson tried to field a bouncing punt inside the 20. He couldn't corral it and Leon Jacobs recovered it, returning it to the 7.
The Jaguars made it 14-0 at the 6:36 mark of the first when Minshew connected with DJ Chark on a 22-yard scoring strike to polish off a 62-yard drive. Josh Lambo upped the margin to 17-0 with 7:54 left in the third quarter by connecting on a 40-yard field goal.
Henry's 1-yard run with 12:04 left in the game pulled the Titans within 17-7, but Lambo tacked on a 48-yard field goal with 7:34 remaining for the final points.
Calais Campbell finished with three sacks for Jacksonville, while Josh Allen and Dawuane Smoot bagged two each.
--Field Level Media