Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew produces record-setting performance for an NFL opening weekend

Only one quarterback in the history of the NFL has posted a stat line of at least a 95 percent completion rate and three touchdowns in a kickoff weekend. His name is Gardner Minshew II.

Minshew’s record-setting, ultra-efficient performance in Week One helped lead the Jacksonville Jaguars to a stunning victory over the Indianapolis Colts, by a score of 27-20. Jacksonville moves to 1-0 on the season, and although it is way too early to mean much of anything right now, the Jags currently sit atop the AFC South — a place very few expected the team to be after drawing a talented Colts team to open the season.

While Minshew was the first quarterback to post those numbers during an NFL kickoff weekend, he is one of the very few quarterbacks ever to accomplish such a feat. Minshew becomes just the fourth quarterback all-time to post a 95 percent completion rating and three touchdown passes in a single game, joining Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Marcus Mariota. Ironically enough, it was Rivers who Minshew out-dueled yesterday.

Overall on the day, Minshew completed 19 of 20 passes (95 percent) for 173 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and a quarterback rating of 142.3. Minshew also hit 10 different receivers in total. He added 19 yards rushing on five attempts as well. The offense had zero turnovers as a whole, while Jacksonville’s defense had two takeaways, and the positive turnover margin was a huge factor in getting the victory.

New offensive coordinator Jay Gruden also called a great game. While Minshew didn’t light the world on fire in terms of his yardage totals, his extremely efficient performance was helped by Gruden’s play calls and getting people into the right position. In fact, Minshew’s only incompletion on the day was a drop by rookie wide receiver Laviska Shenault — who had a solid debut with three catches for 37 yards and a touchdown and two rushes for an additional 10 yards.

There were a lot of question marks regarding whether or not Minshew could be a full-time starting quarterback in this league. Only one week in, and with a lot still to prove, Minshew is doing all he can to silence “Tanking for Trevor” talk. While it would be unfair to expect 95 percent completion rates and zero turnovers each game from Minshew moving forward, Jaguars fans have to be encouraged from what they saw from the young quarterback yesterday. I know I am.