In a hard-fought defensive battle against the New Orleans Saints, the Jacksonville Jaguars fell just short in a 13-6 loss at home. Gardner Minshew II wasn’t able to give the team the magic he has brought since entering as the Jaguars’ starting quarterback. The offense struggled and ultimately couldn’t get enough going against a tough Saints team striding towards the playoffs.
Here are the winners and losers from Jacksonville’s Week 6 loss against the Saints:
Winners
Najee Goode
Before the game, it was announced that Jaguars linebacker Najee Goode would start at weak-side linebacker in place of Quincy Williams. This is likely a response to the Jaguars’ failure to stop Christian McCaffrey in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers.
Goode played well in his first start for Jacksonville, and overall, the defense performed well beyond what we saw against Carolina. Goode recorded six tackles, a sack, and a pass breakup, marking an impressive showing in his first game as a Jaguars starter The Jaguars clearly trusted Goode, as he saw 63 snaps on defense, just short of the total 66 defensive plays run. With Goode, the defense seemed to be clicking on all facets and held a very good Saints offense to just 13 points. Goode was a major contributor and should see a lot of playing time going forward.
Josh Lambo
I could realistically list Josh Lambo as a winner every single week. He has been amongst the league’s best at his position and has hit a perfect 14-of-14 on field goals so far this season. Once again, he was perfect Sunday and provided all of the team’s points on the day. Lambo has proven the team can always count on him to produce when the team calls upon No. 4.
Losers
Gardner Minshew II
For the first time this season, Gardner Minshew II looked human. Minshew and the receivers never seemed to be on the same page and couldn’t get drives going. This game was bound to happen as the young quarterback is a rookie after all. He didn’t turn the ball over at an alarming rate, but the lack of offensive productivity ultimately led to the downfall against the Saints.
The one interception Minshew did throw was a timing route. Minshew missed DJ Chark’s spot and threw it wide, right into the hands of Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore. It will be interesting to watch how the young quarterback responds to his first sign of adversity. The team will need him to play his best ball going forward.
Quincy Williams
Quincy Williams had a tough game going up against the talented Christian McCaffrey in Week 5. With a very disappointing performance and an iffy start to the season, Jacksonville decided to start Najee Goode in his place against the Saints. This wasn’t surprising considering how poor the defense played against Carolina, however, what was surprising was the number of snaps Williams saw.
Williams didn’t have any defensive snaps against the Saints and only saw five in total. It looks as though Goode will be the Jaguars’ weak-side linebacker going forward. Jacksonville spent a third-round pick on Williams and have already benched the rookie linebacker six games into the season. Hopefully, with time, Williams can develop into what the Jaguars drafted him to be, which is a a speedy sideline-to-sideline tackling machine.
