3 Things Colts Offense Must Accomplish to Defeat Jaguars

The Indianapolis Colts sit at a solid 3-2 record ahead of their Week 6 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. This time, the Colts will travel to EverBank Stadium to try and snag a victory in Jacksonville, something that has been problematic in past years for Indy to achieve.

Now that the Colts have placed their young signal-caller Anthony Richardson on Injured Reserve, backup quarterback Gardner Minshew will step in for the foreseeable future as the starter under center. He’ll get to have the chance to defeat his former team this Sunday in the Colts’ fourth AFC South game of the season.

Shane Steichen and Minshew must be on point to get this road victory, so it’s time to discuss the three goals for the Colts’ offense as they attempt to improve to 4-2 (3-1 in the division).

#1) Downfield Passes to Open Up the Short Game

Minshew isn’t the deep-ball thrower that Richardson is, plain and simple, but even though Richardson’s ceiling is higher, Minshew is the better passer right now in Richardson’s career.

Minshew specializes in short, accurate passes that mitigate high risks or turnovers. Currently, he’s sitting at 68.7% completion on 83 passing attempts (57 completions). Minshew also shows his tendency to go with shorter throws in his 553 passing yards, which equates to about 9.7 yards per completion.

Even though the Jaguars have a struggling pass defense this year, it doesn’t mean they won’t prepare for Minshew’s shorter passes. The Jacksonville line still boasts linebacker Josh Allen, who currently has 6.0 sacks on the year (tied for second in the NFL). He also grabbed 3.0 in his first meeting against the Colts when they had Richardson. So, this time, the short passing game will be even more important, given Minshew isn’t a mobile field general.

Look for Steichen to try and loosen up this secondary with some early shots downfield to players like wide receivers Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. or tight end Drew Ogletree. This will help soften the coverage and allow Minshew to begin adding the shorter throws to the gameplan if the Jaguars decide to try and take it away early.

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#2) Offensive Line

The label of this goal may be two simple words, but for the Colts and their aforementioned allowance of Allen in their first meeting, these words hold tons of weight.

Despite having some injuries to center Ryan Kelly and left tackle Bernhard Raimann, the Colts have still put up solid blocking numbers this year through five contests. But, the Colts will have both Kelly and Raimann back for their Week 6 contest. So far, the Colts have allowed 12 total sacks. But as previously drawn out, 3 came from Allen alone in their 2023 debut.

With the Jaguars possessing a stronger run defense than pass, the Colts need to be ready for Jacksonville to try to cut off Minshew’s strengths and the Indy running game early. While there’s a chance this isn’t Doug Pederson and co.’s game plan defensively, it seems to be the best way to contain Steichen’s Minshew-led offense.

Currently, right tackle Braden Smith is dealing with both foot and wrist-related injuries, so his tag is questionable. If he can’t go, rookie swing tackle Blake Freeland will suit up again after a good showing against the Tennessee Titans in Week 5. Allen will likely be lined up against the BYU protector if Smith is sidelined.

However, if the team is all full strength in the trenches and Smith can go, they will have the best chance to make a statement in blocking this time around against a hungry Jaguars run defense.

#3) Utilize the Zack Moss/Jonathan Taylor Combination

The Colts were atrocious on the ground in Week 1 against Jacksonville. In that 31-21 loss, Richardson was the front-runner in his debut contest with 40 rushing yards. Outside of that, the remaining running backs (Deon Jackson, Jake Funk, and Evan Hull) would muster up a mere 25 rushing yards on 16 carries.

It’s fair to put some blame on the offensive line in that game, which didn’t play up to par. But, the backs didn’t hit lanes or look crisp in awareness to any capacity. However, none of those names are Zack Moss or Jonathan Taylor.

Currently, Moss is third in the NFL in rushing yards (445) and has only four games played out of the possible five. He’s also third in rushing yards per game (111.3), displaying a career resurgence that hasn’t been seen in some time at his position.

Along with Moss, Taylor will be getting more chances to get up to speed in Steichen’s offense after his three-year, $42 million extension with the Colts. Taylor debuted for his 2023 season against the Titans in the 23-16 victory. However, he was limited in his role, getting only 6 carries for 18 rushing yards, plus 1 catch for 16 receiving yards.

Now that Taylor is catching up on the scheme and getting more involved, look for this running back duo to rival the Jaguars’ stout defense against the ground. If these two runners and the offensive line can get in sync on Sunday, it could put a lot of pressure on the Jaguars that the Colts didn’t get to apply in their first divisional battle.

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