The Colts Can Defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars If…

Here are three things the Indianapolis Colts must do in order to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Indianapolis Colts have somewhat of an uphill battle this Sunday as they attempt to do something they haven’t done in nine years. The Colts will attempt to win a game in Duval against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Colts’ last win in Jags territory was a 44-17 beat down when Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes. 

Surprisingly, the Colts are undefeated on the road this season, with wins over the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens. This game is a little different, seeing that it’s for first place in the division, and the Jaguars are warming up after a slow start, winning its last two games in London against the Atlanta Falcons and the Buffalo Bills.

The Colts can do a couple of critical things to pull off the upset, and it starts up front with the offensive line.

Lean On the Run Game

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The Colts were able to defeat the Tennessee Titans last week because of how the offensive line imposed their will in the ball game. Coming into that game, the Titans were the No. 1 rush defense in the NFL, and the Colts gashed them for nearly 200 yards. Zack Moss had the best game of his career, rushing for 165 yards and two touchdowns while averaging a whopping 7.2 yards per carry. Not to mention the return of Jonathan Taylor, who hadn’t played a meaningful football game in 10 months.

Taylor’s reps will increase over the next few games until he returns to his old self, but that does not mean that Moss hasn’t earned his touches in this offense. The task now for Colts head coach Shane Steichen is to find creative ways to use both of these guys in the offense.

Pressure Trevor Lawrence

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One of the best units on this Colts team has been the defensive line. They were a bit banged up with injuries to DeForest Buckner and Kwity Paye over the last two weeks, but finally, they’re healthy again. They did a decent job pressuring Trevor Lawrence the first time they met, sacking him a couple of times and getting pressure, but they need more in this game.

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Walker Little, the starting guard for the Jags, is out, and that presents a prime opportunity for Buckner to wreck the game. Buckner needs to perform at his dominant level for the Colts to have any chance to slow down this potent Jaguars passing attack.

Protect The Football

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This Colts team can not afford to shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers. With Gardner Minshew, I expect them to play very safe on offense. It will probably be a ton of quick game and a heavy rushing attack. 

Minshew is pretty safe with the football. While he won’t push the ball down the field much, he will protect it very well and not throw a game away.

The running backs must do the same. This week, extra time spent preparing to protect the football is imperative for Moss and Taylor, especially the latter, who’s just returning from such a long break.

If the Colts can put together long drives ending in points and not turn the ball over, it would render Lawrence helpless on the sideline and limit how much he can impact the game. The Colts did a great job of doing this last week, and I think they can pull off the upset and win in Duval.

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