Another week, another tough game for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jaguars faced off against the New Orleans Saints at their house: TIAA Bank Field. Two talented quarterbacks in New Orleans Saints signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater and Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II looked to do battle.
The Saints would get the best of the Jags as they would win 13-6 in a tough, low-scoring defensive affair.
While it was a hard-fought game, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game, as well as the negatives.
Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly moments from Sunday’s game versus the Saints:
The good: The defense played an extremely solid game
The Jaguars’ defense has been much maligned over the past few weeks but has shown flashes of excellence. Sunday’s showing was one of their better games, as they limited a hot Saints offense to 13 points and only allowed them to convert 5-of-13 third downs.
Veteran linebacker Najee Goode had a great game after taking the place of rookie linebacker Quincy Williams, finishing with six tackles, a sack, and a pass deflection.
The Jaguars’ defense has faced some adversity since being without All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, but this was a game where the defense really stepped up.
The bad: The offense completely stalled out
“Minshew Mania” came to a halt Sunday (hopefully a temporary one), as a highly-talented Saints defense forced quarterback Gardner Minshew II into some uncharacteristic mistakes. He threw his first pick as a starter to cornerback Marshon Lattimore in the third quarter when he missed receiver DJ Chark, and things didn’t get much better for the rookie afterward. He ultimately finished the game 14-of-29 for 163 passing yards and no touchdowns.
The Saints came into Sunday’s game with the mindset to keep Minshew within the confines of the pocket, and it worked like a charm. Hopefully, he’ll put the performance behind him and right his wrongs against the Cincinnati Bengals, who are struggling on both sides of the ball.
The ugly: Missed red zone opportunities and third-down completions
Neither team lit up the stat sheet much but the Jaguars had a tough time on third-down in particular. They finished 4-of-14 in the category, which was good for just 28 percent on the day. They also failed to convert on their only fourth-down opportunity, too.
The Jaguars couldn’t convert in the red zone going 0-of-2 on their chances with their closest opportunity ending on the Saints’ 4-yard line. During that drive, Minshew failed to link up with tight end Geoff Swaim for a touchdown pass to end the drive and the team had to settle for a field goal instead.
The Jags left a lot of plays out there on the field, and in a game that comes down to the wire such as Sunday’s, those one or two missed could have potentially turned into points that would’ve contributed to a win. Hopefully, they’ll clean things up Week 7, because if they don’t, it’s going to be a long season.
