Jaguars Get Ran Out of Lucas Oil, Fall 33–13 to Colts in Critical Divisional Game
Despite the Jacksonville Jaguars entering Sunday’s game vs. the Indianapolis Colts with a healthy roster and their starting quarterback back in the fold, the Jaguars once again produced a dud in a pivotal game, losing 33-13 to the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Nick Foles’ return to the lineup didn’t change much of anything for the Jaguars as the offense once again failed in crucial spots and was held out of the end zone, and even the red zone, for most of the game. On each side of the ball, the Colts were the tougher, smarter and faster team, and the Jaguars’ post-bye week game went as awry as possible as a result.
Many hoped Foles’ first game since sustaining a clavicle injury in Week 1 would help the Jaguars (4-6) get hot for a playoff run, but it's more likely that the team will be playing to finish with a record closer to .500.
Foles got off to a quick start in his first appearance in more than two months, finding wide receiver DJ Chark early and often. Chark caught Foles’ first pass of the game for 12 yards and Foles found the Jaguars’ top wideout frequently after that.
Foles, who also threw his first touchdown of the season to Chark in Week 1, connected with Chark over the middle for a 34-yard touchdown pass on the Jaguars’ second possession. This was Foles’ first touchdown pass since recovering from his clavicle injury and was a perfectly placed pass to Chark who was able to get easy separation and then run it in the rest of the way.
The hot start would not last long, though. The offense went 6-14 on third down and Foles progressively struggled more and more as the game wore on, showing a decent amount of rust as he underthrew too many passes and made a few questionable decisions.
With less than a minute left in the first half, he lofted a pass to Chark deep down the field, but the poor throw was into double coverage and intercepted easily by Colts’ defensive back Rock Ya-Sin, signaling the poor day to come for Foles. He finished the game 33-of-47 for 296 yards with two touchdowns (each to Chark) and an interception.
Jacksonville was stricken by inconsistency on the defensive side of the ball as well. The Colts’ offensive line dominated Jacksonville’s front seven in the run game early on in the game. The Colts ran for 111 yards and 7.4 yards per rush in the first half alone.
Ultimately, the Colts ran for 264 yards as two different running backs totaled over 100 yards rushing. It was the first time in Colts' history that two running backs ran for 100 yards, so the Jaguars’ run defense was historically bad against the run.
This included a 13-yard Mack touchdown rush to tie the game at 7-7 early on, a play that saw cornerback Tre Herndon and linebacker Najee Goode bounced off of Mack before he found his way to the end zone, along with a seven-yard Nyheim Hines touchdown rush in the fourth quarter.
This is all in contrast to what the Jaguars did while running the ball. While the Colts committed to the run and went right at the Jaguars with 36 attempts, the Jaguars only ran the ball nine times for 29 yards, a season-low in both areas. Leonard Fournette had only eight carries for 23 yards.
After the early touchdown to Chark, Foles’ and the Jaguars’ offense was completely blanked by the Colts and did nothing of substance. Jacksonville failed to score on eight straight possessions after the Chark touchdown, including a possession where they started with the ball at the Colts’ 29-yard line thanks to a muffed punt.
Jacksonville’s anemic offense could not advance the ball following the punt and Josh Lambo shanked a 46-yard field goal, missing right. This was a perfect summary of how things went for Jacksonville on offense on Sunday as the team had its chances to make plays but simply failed in too many big spots.
Jacoby Brissett didn’t hurt Jacksonville much with explosive plays through the air, but he was mostly efficient and outside of a Jarrod Wilson interception late, the Jaguars did not offer much resistance. He finished the game 15-of-25 passing for 148 yards with a touchdown and interception apiece, while also rushing for a score.
The Jaguars were hoping that benching rookie sensation Gardner Minshew II for the veteran Foles would fix the team’s most glaring issues, but on Sunday those issues were as clear as ever. Jacksonville failed to win in the trenches and failed to come up with big plays on offense, dooming them from the start.
For Foles, his first full game as the Jaguars starting quarterback was ultimately one to forget. The Jaguars will travel to Nashville to play the Tennesee Titans in Week 12, and for Jacksonville to get its season back on track it is going to need a better day out of its franchise passer, and out of everyone around him.
