Jaguars vs. Colts: Can the Pass-Rush Return vs. Matt Ryan?

A month ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars smelled blood in the water against Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan. Now, they are trying to stop some bleeding of their own.

After seven sacks and 21 quarterbacks in the first two weeks, the Jaguars' pass-rush has declined in the last two weeks, mustering three sacks and 10 quarterback hits. They outdid those numbers the last time they played Matt Ryan and the Colts in Week 2, sacking him five times and hitting him 11 more.

“It can improve. It can get a little bit better," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said about the pass-rush after one sack and five quarterback hits against the Texans.

"We pride ourselves on getting after the quarterback, and there were flashes of it where we disrupted Davis (Mills) a little bit, could’ve done better there, but the guys take a lot of pride in their work, and that’s something that they’ll get back here on the practice field and fix.”

The hope for the Jaguars is that Ryan and the Colts' struggling offensive line can help bring the pass-rush back. Only three teams have a higher sack % than the Colts' 9.7%, while the only two teams to allow more sacks than their 21 are the two teams that have played six games -- Washington and Chicago.

Whether due to Ryan's own immobility, injury issues or players simply not executing up to a standard held for successful lines, the Colts haven't been able to keep Ryan clean. And with the Jaguars needing pressure to be brought back into the fold to continue their previous hot streak of turnovers, it will be paramount for the pass-rush to step up this week.

“It’s a focus of ours. Anytime you focus on something and it doesn’t happen, you come back to work that Wednesday just like they did yesterday," Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell said.

"They came back, and they were focused on creating turnovers, and that’s what you have to do. They come in bunches, and we didn’t get one. That’s another thing we’ve got to continue to get better at, turning the ball over and giving the offense another chance. That’s our mindset, and we’re going to continue to work at it.”

The last time the Jaguars played the Colts, they hounded Ryan and forced him into three interceptions. Since then, the pass-rush has failed to get home consistently, with Josh Allen as the only player with five quarterback hits over the last three games.

Until the Jaguars' offense can prove it can be consistent week in and week out, the Jaguars will need their defense to make game-changing plays. This is a tall ask for any defense, but the Jaguars have self-confidence after making those plays in the first three weeks.

But as things stand today, the Jaguars are tied for 19th in sacks with 10. They are eighth in pressure rate at 26.4%, which could give some hope that eventually the sacks will come in bunches as the pressures continue to mount. But at 2-3 and facing this Colts' offense, the Jaguars can't afford to wait.

"That’s one of the things we try to do all the time is pressure the quarterback, but again, he’s a veteran quarterback, he’s savvy," Caldwell said. "He understands when to get rid of the ball, so we just have to go out there and try to stay committed to what we truly believe in and go from there.”

"It’s really important, but they self-scout themselves, and we do the same thing, so you never want to go in with the same game plan. We have to be multiple in what we do, and we try to do that around here. We try to create different looks, but like you said, he’s a veteran, he’s seen it all. We just have to make sure that we understand what we’re doing, concentrate on us, and go out there and just play.”