Gardner Minshew Big Riser in NFL.com QB Rankings
If things break their way this weekend, the Indianapolis Colts could find themselves on top of the AFC South on Christmas day.
Three teams are 8-6 in the division. The Colts head to Atlanta to take on a struggling Falcons team, while the Houston Texans host the 9-5 Cleveland Browns, and the Jacksonville Jaguars travel over to Tampa to take on the NFC South leading Buccaneers.
Leading the charge for head coach Shane Steichen's offense is quarterback Gardner Minshew, who has helped his team win five of its last six. Nick Shook author's NFL.com's quarterback rankings every week, and Minshew got a significant bump of four spots from No. 23 to No. 19 after beating the Steelers.
Only newcomers Aidan O'Connell (No. 21) of the Raiders and Nick Mullens (No. 22) of the Vikings had bigger jumps than Minshew with five and eight spots respectively.
"If there's one trait we all know Minshew possesses, it's grit," wrote Shook on NFL.com. "He had plenty of it against the Steelers on Saturday, overcoming an early 13-0 deficit by trusting his coordinator, his teammates and his own abilities. Minshew had a great afternoon in Indianapolis, firing dots to eight different targets on the day and connecting with three of them for passing touchdowns.
"He could've finished with two more touchdowns had his intended targets not dropped his precise passes, and his Colts still ran away with a win because of how Minshew executed. His completion to Michael Pittman down the sideline -- a pass delivered out-of-structure and on the run -- was very pretty, and by the time the game was over, Minshew had compiled a performance of which he could rightfully be proud."
Minshew sliced and diced Steelers with Michael Pittman and Zack Moss missing significant portions of the game. Jonathan Taylor was already out, and still Minshew and the Colts offense put 30-unanswered on the Steelers defense.
The Colts look to be getting Taylor and Pittman back against an Atlanta Falcons defense that has been surprisingly good this year. Another road win for Minshew and the Colts would bode well for a Merry Christmas morning.
