Teddy Bridgewater and Jared Cook teamed for the game's only touchdown, as the visiting New Orleans Saints stayed unbeaten without Drew Brees by notching a 13-6 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The Saints (5-1) won their fourth consecutive game with Bridgewater starting in place of the injured Brees, as the defense swarmed Gardner Minshew II in its third consecutive standout performance.
New Orleans limited Jacksonville to 226 total yards, the third consecutive opponent to finish with fewer than 260 yards.
Minshew, a rookie sixth-round draft choice, became the Jaguars' starter when Nick Foles was injured during the season opener. He completed 14 of 29 passes for 163 yards and an interception.
Leonard Fournette rushed for 72 yards on 20 carries as the Jaguars (2-4) became the 32nd consecutive Saints opponent without a 100-yard rusher.
Jacksonville, which gave up 285 rushing yards in a 34-27 loss at Carolina a week earlier, held New Orleans to 104 rushing yards.
Saints leading rusher Alvin Kamara played on an injured ankle and was limited to 31 yards on 11 carries. Latavius Murray had his most productive game of the season, finishing with 44 rushing yards and 35 receiving yards.
The score was tied at 6 after three quarters -- just the second time this season that a game went to the fourth quarter without either team having scored a touchdown.
But the game didn't stay touchdown-free for long after that. On third-and-goal, Bridgewater threw a 4-yard touchdown to Cook, giving New Orleans a 13-6 lead with 11:49 remaining.
On the first possession of the third quarter, Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore made the first interception of Minshew since the season opener.
New Orleans drove to a first-and-goal, but settled for Wil Lutz's 21-yard field goal and a 6-3 lead.
Jacksonville tied the score on the ensuing possession when Josh Lambo kicked a 32-yard field goal.
The score was tied at 3 at halftime after Lutz kicked a 47-yard field goal in the first quarter, and Lambo followed with a 22-yarder in the second quarter.
New Orleans had 125 total yards and Jacksonville had 110 in the first half.
--Field Level Media
New Orleans | Jacksonville | |
Latavius Murray | Player | Leonard Fournette |
8 | Attempts | 20 |
44 | Yards | 72 |
5.5 | Avg Yards | 3.6 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
15 | Long | 16 |
New Orleans | Jacksonville | |
Michael Thomas | Player | Dede Westbrook |
8 | Receptions | 3 |
89 | Yards | 53 |
11.1 | Avg Yards | 17.7 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
26 | Long | 23 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
New Orleans | 326 | 104 | 222 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.0 | 0 |
Jacksonville | 226 | 75 | 151 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | 1 |