Jaguars move up in FanSided.com NFL power rankings
By David Levin
After the 29-15 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars are on the move in the most recent FanSided.com NFL power rankings.
It might be the best comment by any NFL analyst has made regarding the Jaguars 29-15 win over the New York Jets on Sunday.
"“Kudos to this improving team that won a game it was expected to win and did it in impressive fashion. The Jaguars are certainly right in the mix for the AFC South title…”"
As Russell Baxter said, in his weekly NFL Power Rankings here on FanSided.com, the Jaguars are moving forward and have a great opportunity to make a statement about their season with the game against the Houston Texans this coming weekend in London.
Jacksonville has moved up to 16th in the rankings, up three spots from last week.
And as Baxter also explained, this is a team that has not faced the Indianapolis Colts yet. It makes for exciting football over the next nine weeks of the NFL season here in North Florida.
At this time last year, Jacksonville was 3-5 and sinking faster than the Titanic with injuries that plagued them, an offense that couldn’t move the football and a defense that had lost its way. What a difference 12 months makes.
"“Next week’s trip to London shapes up as a huge opportunity,” Baxter added."
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Jacksonville had 389 yards of total offense on Sunday, highlighted by the play of their rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew, who played like a veteran, moving around the pocket, creating plays on the fly with his legs and arm. The defense was good, if not better, than the one Todd Wash put on the field in 2017, registering eight sacks and three interceptions of Jets quarterback Sam Darnold.
Minshew’s magic once again was the talk after the game by his teammates who continue to feed off what the sixth-round draft pick out of Washington State has done this season for this organization.
"“He’s great, man,” Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson said via Jaguars.com. “We love what he’s been able to bring to us, getting out of the pocket and able to do a lot of things. I mean he’s been great, just what we needed. When Nick went down, he didn’t blink. He stepped in and he’s been great for us.”"
Now, the focus is on London, the Texans and three straight games against AFC South opponents. The one thing the team could not do in 2018 as they did in 2017, their playoff season, was defeat division opponents. The Jaguars were 1-5 in 2018.
"“The Jaguars make another trip to London and this time around, look to avoid being swept by the Texans for the second straight year,” Baxter wrote. “In Week 2 at Houston, [head coach Doug] Marrone’s team scored a fourth-quarter touchdown with 30 seconds to play but failed on a possible game-winning two-point conversion attempt in a 13-12 loss.”"