Article by Dan Tortora
With all the "non-distraction" moves by cornerback Jalern Ramsey, the questions that surrounded this Thursday Night game were "Will Ramsey play?". "Will Ramsey get traded?", or "What effect could Ramsey have on this game?" rather than "Will the Jaguars get their first win of the season?"
Ramsey did in fact end up starting and playing amidst the drama and the trade rumors.
But, more importantly, rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew II turned the attention to the game itself when he aided the Jaguars to back-to-back scoring drives in the first quarter.
Jacksonville's special teams helped set up the first score after the team punted the ball away on their opening drive when Tennessee Titans' punt returner Adoree' Jackson fumbled the return and Jaguars' linebacker Leon Jacobs recovered the ball on the Titans' seven-yard line.
Minshew came back onto the field and threw for the seven yards needed on the first play of the team's second drive, with a touchdown pass to tight end James O'Shaughnessy to make it 7-0 Jacksonville less than two minutes into the game.
After a punt by Tennessee, Jacksonville went six plays for 62 yards, the final of those plays being a 22-yard pass from Minshew to wide receiver D.J. Chark, Jr., who caught the ball in single-coverage in the end zone to elevate the Jaguars to a 14-0 lead with 6:36 left on the first quarter game clock. Fellow wide receiver Dede Westbrook turned around to grab the ball on a well-timed launch from Minshew for a 28-yard gain on this drive as well.
With the passing game going pretty well, the rushing attack, conversely, was struggling, with running back Leonard Fournette carrying the ball three times for -5 yards, including a seven-yard loss that forced Jacksonville to punt inside two minutes reminaing in the first quarter.
Defensive end Calais Campbell pressured Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota on the team's final drive of the first quarter, forcing him to throw the ball out-of-bounds. Campbell would take down running back Derrick Henry for a loss of five yards on the very next play, ending the opening quarter.
After a short break, Campbell would complete the trifecta, sacking Mariota for a six-yard loss to set up 4th-&-30 for the Titans, getting the ball back to the Jaguars' offense inside the first minute of the second quarter.
On Jacksonville's first drive of the second quarter, wide receiver Chris Conley injured his ankle and came out of the game.
Inside the nine-minute mark, Jaguars' punter Logan Cooke sent the ball away for the third time in the contest.
Speaking of punts, Jacksonville's defense forced Tennessee to punt on all six of their first-half drives, allowing zero points in the first 30 minutes of play as the teams headed into their respective locker rooms.
The Jaguars' defensive unit continued to impress throughout the first half to aid the offense which stalled in the second quarter, punting the ball away on their four drives and letting the clock run down on their final drive in that quarter after gaining 14 points in the first 15 minutes of play.
Jacksonville's defense continued to impress as the second half opened, with Campbell gaining yet another tackle for a loss when he sacked Mariota for the second time in the contest, this a nine-yard loss that resulted in a turnover on downs for Tennessee.
Minshew would air out to Westbrook in single-coverage on the Jaguars' first offensive drive of the second half, but Westbrook did not hold on in the end zone to what would have been Minshew's third touchdown pass of the game. Instead, kicker Josh Lambo would give Jacksonville their first field goal of the game, this from 40 yards away, to bring the score to 17-0 Jacksonville with 7:59 left in the third quarter.
Rookie defensive end Josh Allen would be credited with a sack and forced fumble late in the third quarter. The ball would be recovered by Mariota, but it would move the Titans to 4th-&-17 and a subsequent punt, their seventh of the game by punter Brett Kern.
On Tennessee's first drive of the final quarter, Campbell attained his third sack of the contest, this for a seven-yard loss.
Ramsey would force a fumble with the Titans inside the Jaguars' redzone, but running Dion Lewis would recover the ball on the Jaguars' 10-yard line.
On the same drive, Henry would end the shutout by Jacksonville when he went in relatively untouched from a yard away to bring the score to 17-7 Jacksonville with 12:04 to play in the game. Prior to this touchdown by Henry, the Jaguars had held the Titans scoreless for the first 47 minutes and 56 seconds of this Thursday Night Football match-up.
Following that touchdown, Tennessee cornerback Logan Ryan was flagged for pass interference, giving Jacksonville a new set of downs at the Tennessee 45-yard line after being on a 3rd-&-6 situation, breathing life into their adversary.
This drive was kept alive on the following third down when Minshew got the ball out of a loaded pocket to Chark for a 12-yard gain to the Titans' 33-yard line.
Despite struggling on the ground in this game, Fournette came up with a one-handed grab that moved Lambo in position for a 48-yard field-goal attempt, which he booted through the uprights to raise the Jaguars up to a 20-7 lead with 7:38 to go in the game.
Second-year defensive tackle out of the University of Florida Taven Bryan broke into the sack extravaganza on Tennessee's next drive, bringing up a five-yard loss, and would be followed by defensive end Yannick Ngakoue's first sack of the game, his for a loss of seven yards. The back-to-back sacks by Jacksonville's defense forced Tennessee to punt for the eighth time in the contest.
With a little over five minutes to go in the game, Fournette broke away for a 69-yard ground-gainer, going from his own 22-yard line down to the Titans' nine-yard line. He had 11 carries for -8 yards prior to this singular play.
Jaguars' head coach Doug Marrone would elect to go for it on 4th-&-Goal from the Titans' four-yard line, where Minshew's pass would fall incomplete, intended for Westbrook, turning the ball over on downs.
On the next Tennessee Drive, Smoot and Allen would combine for a sack on Mariota for Jacksonville's ninth sack of the game.
Rookie linebacker Quincy Williams would lay a blistering hit on Titans' wide receiver Adam Humphries to end the game 20-7, advantage Jaguars, for their first win of the season, moving them to 1-2. With the loss, Tennessee falls to 1-2, giving them the same record and Jacksonville the head-to-head advantage inside the AFC South division, over Tennessee.
Minshew achieved his first professional victory with a 20-for-30, 204 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions performance at home.
"Sacksonville" would end the game with nine sacks: Defensive end Calais Campbell (3), Defensive end Dawuane Smoot (1.5), Defensive end Josh Allen (1.5), Defensive tackle Taven Bryan (1), Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (1), Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus (0.5), and Linebacker Leon Jacobs (0.5).
Linebacker Myles Jack went out in the third quarter and into the concussion protocol.
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