NFL Power Rankings after the first quarter of the 2019 season

#17 Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2)

Minshew has done nothing but lead the Jags to a potential game-tying drive against the Texans, put up 20 points against one of the better defenses in the league in Tennessee and take them down for a game-winning field goal in Denver

Gardner Minshew is the truth. Like I have already talked about with some other guys, I evaluated the new starting quarterbacks around the league and said my confidence level in Minshew was high.

He has done nothing but lead the Jags to a potential game-tying drive against the Texans, put up 20 points against one of the better defenses in the league in Tennessee and take them down for a game-winning field goal in Denver. He has completed almost 70 percent of his passes with several shots down the field, thrown seven touchdowns and his only pick came off a defensive end tipping the ball to himself.

Against the Broncos, however, it was Leonard Fournette finally re-emerging as the like the workhorse power back I always expected him to be, as he went for a career-high 225 yards on 29 carries and just refused to go down.

The Jacksonville defense has six guys who can get after the passer, if Jalen Ramsey decides to stay with the team they have two of the top five corners in the game and Ronnie Harrison is turning into a really good safety, after I thought he was a steal in last year’s draft.

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#18 Houston Texans (2-2)

Deshaun Watson is the man, but he can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat every single week. He has been sacked 18 times, as the offensive line is still coming together. Carlos Hyde simply shouldn’t be anybody’s leading rusher and Houston invested a third-round pick for Duke Johnson and they simply haven’t used him enough.

I have never been a fan of Bill O’Brien’s predictable play-calling with a few stupid trick plays sprinkled in. J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus have looked great, but the Houston secondary has struggled mightily when the pass rush didn’t get home.

And even Ka’imi Fairbairn has already missed two field goals and an extra point. So there is reason for concern with the Texans, but they might have the best quarterback-receiver connection in the league, even if it was off a little last week, the O-line should get better and they are 2-2 despite not intercepting a pass since the season-opener.

With the AFC South all tied up at 2-2 that division title is up for grabs and Houston has the best quarterback among the four teams.

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#19 Los Angeles Chargers (2-2)

Had you asked me a good month before the season, who I thought were the top teams in either conference. I would have probably had the Chargers right behind the Chiefs and Patriots, but with Russell Okung and Derwin James missing extended periods of time, as well as Melvin Gordon holding out, I had them missing the playoffs altogether in my season predictions.

After barely surviving the Colts’ late push in week one and being tied 10-10 shortly before halftime against the Dolphins, you can certainly question what they have done so far. Their starting five on the offensive line is among the worst in the entire league and they allow more than half of third downs to be converted against their defense – third-worst behind only the Redskins and Dolphins.

However, Keenan Allen has been playing like the best receiver in football, with Melvin Gordon coming back the Chargers will have the most impressive three-headed monster in the backfield, considering how great Austin Ekeler has been for them, and the defense has surrendered just 66.3 rushing yards per game since that week one debacle, in which Marlon Mack went off on them.

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#20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2)

I don’t think anybody saw the Bucs win at Los Angeles to the undefeated Rams last Sunday. As I mentioned already, they kept L.A. in base defense with their personnel sets, but their pass-protection was on point in general and their plans for using tight-ends and backs to slow down Aaron Donald and Dante Fowler were excellent.

Defensively, they are ranked No.1 in the league with big Vita Vea and Ndamokung Suh on the inside and they held Todd Gurley and the Rams to just 28 yards on the ground. Shaquil Barrett is leading the league with nine sacks, they are tied for second with nine takeaways and scored off those twice themselves.

However, as long as Jameis Winston is the quarterback and does his best to throw away games late, I can’t fully buy into this team. That aerial attack can be lethal with Mike Evans as a consistently forgotten superstar, one of the best No. 2s in Chris Godwin and two seam-stretching tight-ends to go with a former Heisman Trophy winner with a big arm.

When they go max-protect off play-action with those two receivers being the only two in the pattern, they are tough to cover.

Yet, I have already watched Jameis throw away a game versus San Francisco by refusing to throw the ball in the dirt on a covered screen and almost allowing the Rams to come back with a stupid throw towards the sideline with Marcus Peters squatting on that route in cover-two and taking it to the house to get within five points with eight minutes left in the game.