3. Improved Quarterback Play
During the Week 2 matchup between the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars, rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew was making his first career NFL start, and was understandably rusty. Minshew was sacked four times and had three fumbles, although the Jaguars only lost one of them.
Minshew went 23-for-33 with 213 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 56 yards on six attempts. In addition, he had a quarterback rating of 97.2, and gave Jaguars fans confidence despite being without starter Nick Foles for a significant amount of time due to a broken collarbone.
In the six games since facing the Texans, Minshew has 10 touchdown passes and only one interception, and has averaged 248 passing yards per game. In addition, Minshew has a quarterback rating average of 93.9, and has posted a rating of 100-plus in three different games. Needless to say, Minshew has gotten rather comfortable at the helm, which is why there have been rumblings of a quarterback controversy in Jacksonville.
The Texans are allowing the second-most passing yards on the season, as they’ve given up 2, 214 yards in the air, along with a completion percentage of 66.8 percent, plus a quarterback rating of 105.1 to opposing quarterbacks.
The Jaguars have given up 13 sacks in the six games since Week 2, and Minshew has six total fumbles during that span. If the Texans are unable to get to the quarterback, Minshew could very well light up the Texans in this very important AFC South showdown.