Jaguars drop in Week 2 NFL rankings after Sunday’s loss

Depending on which site to read, the Jacksonville Jaguars take a tumble in Week 2 NFL rankings. How far they tumble is based on opinion.

Ok, so the drop wasn’t that dramatic for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the most recent ESPN.com NFL rankings. The Jaguars tumbled from their original post at 19th to 24th after their 40-26 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

While the offense looked better than expected, even with the loss of quarterback Nick Foles, who suffered a broken clavicle, it was the highly vaunted defense that took a beating on Sunday. Things must get better this coming Sunday as this team plays the first of two straight divisional matchups against Houston and then Tennessee four days later.

Even two days after the loss, the talk in Jacksonville is still about how rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew looked filling in for Foles after he went down in the first quarter.

"“Minshew completed his first 13 passes — the most by a rookie quarterback to begin his career over the past 40 years, per Elias Sports Bureau research — en route to 275 yards and two touchdowns,” writes Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. “Minshew completed 22 of 25 passes, with one of the incompletions a pass that bounced off Leonard Fournette’s hands and was intercepted.”"

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While the ESPN ranking might have seemed a bit high for the Jaguars, as the Chiefs scored on seven straight possessions, the same cannot be said for Russell Baxter’s NFL rankings on FanSided.com.

Prior to the start of the season, Jacksonville was ranked 28th overall by the website. The loss didn’t send the team into freefall, but it did give the team a 31st ranking this week. The analyst commended the offensive efforts of Minshew but also stated the obvious about the other unit on the team.

"“Enter rookie Gardner Minshew, who wound up throwing for 275 yards and two scores (1 interception). But the Jacksonville defense couldn’t slow down Patrick Mahomes and an attack that rolled up 491 total yards. And the Jaguars failed to come up with sack or a takeaway,” Baxter added."

The Jaguars are now set to go with Minshew as their signal-caller until Foles comes back from surgery to repair his collarbone. Head coach Doug Marrone told the media he was optimistic about his veteran’s return. Foles signed an $88-million deal this offseason to come in and change the direction of this franchise offensively.

After seeing Minshew come in without much notice, Marrone stated he felt comfortable with the rookie moving forward. The sixth-round pick out of Washington State has a record-setting day even in the loss.

"“Minshew’s completion percentage (88.0%) was the highest in league history for any player with at least 15 pass attempts making an NFL debut, DiRocco added. “It is also a franchise single-game record among players with at least 25 pass attempts.”"