JACKSONVILLE, FLA – The Jaguars stormed out to a 14-0 for the first time since the victory over the Patriots in Week 2 of last season and went on to beat the Titans 20-7 on Thursday night.
It's a game the Jaguars had to have. It's nearly impossible to make the playoffs after an 0-3 start. Here are my four biggest takeaways from the game.
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Ramsey's night: All eyes were on Jalen Ramsey as he took the field before the game. As he hit the field for warmups, the heavens opened up and heavy rain began to fall, sending fans scattering. There was a smattering of applause as well as a few boos, illustrating the mixed reaction among Jaguars' fans.
Ramsey played as he usually does, making nine tackles and drawing an offensive pass interference call on Titans' wide receiver A.J. Brown. If Ramsey was thinking about a potential new home, it didn't impact his play.
Minshew Mania: At one point in the first quarter, Minshew had thrown two touchdown passes and had a perfect quarterback rating. I leaned over to Mark Brunell and asked: "How good can this guy be?"
Brunell's response? "I don't know. We're in uncharted territory."
Minshew didn't miss a beat, finishing the game 20 of 30 for 204 yards and two touchdowns and further adding to his budding legend.
This chapter of the rivalry: There have been games in the recent history of the Jaguars-Titans rivalry where the Titans looked like they couldn't find the end zone with a map. They won some of those games.
This time around, with Tennessee's offense failing to move the ball against the Jaguars defense, Jacksonville didn't let the Titans find an easy one to get some momentum. Instead, the Jaguars delivered the knockout blow to earn their first victory of the season.
What the result means for the rest of the season: Not to overstate it, but Thursday night's win saved the season. At least for now.
If the Jaguars can pull off a win in Denver in 10 days, they can get back to the .500 mark, which isn't too far off from where they will likely have to be to win the division. To do what they did in primetime and on national television will do wonders for the Jaguars' reputation, one that was trending strongly toward the negative after the first two weeks.