Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts: Week 1 sack analysis

The Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line overall played a very good game against the Indianapolis Colts. They opened rushing lanes and Gardner Minshew was only hit four times.

But there were four sacks.

Well, yes, but we’ll delve into why that wasn’t really the offensive line’s fault — at least not totally.

The All-22 isn’t up yet but we’re gonna do this thing anyway. Sorry for not having video of the final sack, but trust me when I say that was all on Gardner Minshew not throwing the ball away. (And it was a good play... I’ll explain why!)

Sack #1: 1st & 10 at JAX 27, 0:31 left in 1Q

G.Minshew sacked at JAX 19 for -8 yards (D.Autry).

We have our first sack of the game and it’s pretty clear cut that right tackle Jawaan Taylor gets beat by Denico Autry. This happened a few times last year to the young offensive lineman and he cleaned it up by the end of the game, but this one is definitely on him.

Fault: Jawaan Taylor

Sack #2: 3rd & 9 at JAX 26, 13:44 left in 3Q

(Shotgun) G.Minshew sacked at JAX 18 for -8 yards (J.Houston).

While Justin Houston definitely gets some push against left tackle Cam Robinson, Gardner Minshew has to see that he can step up into the pocket a little to his left... or even dump it out to Chris Thompson just a few yards downfield.

Fault: Gardner Minshew

Sack #3: 3rd & 2 at IND 26, 4:15 left in 3Q

G.Minshew sacked at IND 32 for -6 yards (K.Willis).

Gardner Minshew had four seconds of a clean pocket before he started to shuffle to the right and then he had an additional two seconds to get the ball away. He’s got to throw it away.

Fault: Gardner Minshew

Sack #4: 3rd & 6 at IND 27, 3:03 left in 4Q

(Shotgun) G.Minshew sacked at IND 28 for -1 yards (D.Autry).

I like taking the sack here! It forced the Colts to burn their first timeout and it was only a 1-yard loss. Could Minshew have thrown the ball away? Yes. But I think he chose the sack and it was a good, smart play by the second-year quarterback.

Fault: Gardner Minshew (but it was good!)

Summary

The box score doesn’t look good for the offensive line, but when you dive in you see that they shouldn’t bear the brunt of criticism for it. Gardner Minshew needs to learn when to throw the ball away or when to confidently step up into the pocket or when to get the ball quickly to his safety valve at running back.

Up next: The Tennessee Titans!