Minshew rallies Jaguars over Rivers and Colts
Gardner Minshew completed 19 of 20 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns Sunday, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter that lifted the Jacksonville Jaguars to a season-opening 27-20 win over the visiting Indianapolis Colts.
Minshew, who hit his last 15 passes, found Keenan Cole wide open down the right sideline for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 5:56 left in the game. Josh Lambo added a 46-yard field goal with 2:50 to play, his 45th consecutive successful field goal at home.
Indianapolis reached the Jacksonville 26 on its final possession, but Philip Rivers’ fourth-down pass for T.Y. Hilton was knocked away by rookie cornerback C.J. Henderson with 49 seconds remaining.
Rivers, playing his first game for the Colts after starting for the last 14 seasons with the Chargers, connected on 36 of 46 passes for 363 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Indianapolis played most of the last three quarters without starting running back Marlon Mack, who left with a leg injury.
Indianapolis scored on its first possession of the year, ripping off a 63-yard drive that required just seven plays. Nyheim Hines polished off the march on a 12-yard run for a 7-0 lead only 3:11 into the game.
But Rivers, who tossed 20 interceptions last year, mixed in a pick early in the second quarter to Henderson that set Jacksonville up at the Colts’ 27. Four plays later, Minshew hit DJ Chark on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 10:42 left in the half.
Indianapolis responded with a scoring drive of nearly six minutes, with Hines taking a screen pass from Rivers and turning it into an 8-yard touchdown that made it 14-7. Back came the Jaguars with Minshew’s 15-yard scoring strike to rookie Laviska Shenault at the 1:38 mark.
However, the Colts went into halftime with a 17-14 lead when Rivers led a two-minute drill down the field. Rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship cashed in with a 38-yard field goal just before time expired.
–Field Level Media
