Which Matchup Will Be the Most Important for Jaguars’ Defense vs. Colts?
When it comes to this Sunday’s critical AFC South game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, it is almost glaringly obvious where Jacksonville’s defensive focus should be.
As of early Friday afternoon, the Colts’ top three wide receivers (T.Y. Hilton, Parris Campbell, and Devin Funchess), had yet to be full participants in practice this week. Hilton and Campbell have each already been ruled out for SUnday.
The likely starters on the perimeter for the Colts will be Chester Rogers (14 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns in 2019), and Zach Pascal (21 catches for 347 yards and four touchdowns in 2019).
With these injuries, the Jaguars’ defense is going to have to shift its focus to the Colts’ dangerous tight end duo of Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron. So far, it appears Jacksonville is aware of the issues each player can create for a defense.
“Well, obviously, they have two exceptional tight ends, really three with [Mo Alie-] Cox. They’re a matchup nightmare,” Jaguars defensive coordinator Todd Wash said Thursday.
“You have the tight ends, you have [Jack] Doyle and you have [Eric] Ebron. I mean, those guys, they can put a lot of pressure on a defense,” Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said earlier this week.
Jacksonville’s staff knows the Colts’ tight ends are dangerous and they know that each will likely see more than their fair share of targets this Sunday. Each has already been a huge factor in Colts head coach Frank Reich’s offense this season, and there is no reason to think that won’t continue vs. the Jaguars.
Ebron (23 catches for 304 yards and three touchdowns) is 15th in the NFL in targets per game with 4.78, while Doyle (27 catches for 276 yards and three touchdowns) is ranked 20th with 4.22 targets per game. Only one other team (Seattle Seahawks) has two tight ends ranked in the top 20 in targets per game.
“Those guys can take advantage [of] different levels of the field. Plus their catch radius, catchability, matchup issues, there’s a lot of things that go into that,” Marrone said this week.
Jaguars linebacker Najee Goode spent 2018 with the Colts, so he knows just as well as anyone what Doyle and Ebron can do. He would go against each frequently in practice and therefore knows what they like to do and how they can hurt a defense.
Goode also played for the Philadelphia Eagles while Reich was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator from 2016-2017, so he knows how much the Colts coach likes to utilize tight ends in his offense.
“Definitely man, especially (with) Ebron,” Goode told JaguarMaven this week when asked about if his time with the Colts is something that could come in handy Sunday. “That is my boy. We are going to be going back and forth at it.”
“Him and Jack (Doyle) man, the one thing is that they get open. They find ways to get open and all of them can catch,” Goode continued. “Last year we played Oakland and Mo Alie-Cox had a crazy one-handed touchdown in the end zone. They are big and they actually have size to them, so it is something that I know Frank (Reich) knows how to utilize from Philly and then being there last year.”
What will the Jaguars have to specifically try to prevent each tight end from doing? Wash gave his scouting report on Doyle and Ebron Thursday, pointing out the ways they can hurt a defense and the challenges they will present for Jacksonville.
“Everybody says Jack [Doyle], ‘He’s a jack of all trades, master of none.’ I call BS on that,” Wash said. “He’s an exceptional Y when they put him at the Y. He can block defensive ends."
As for Ebron, who is known much more as a receiving threat who can be split out wide? Wash knows he can dictate matchups and defensive schemes.
“He’s basically a 6’5” wideout. They don’t ask him [often] to block and stuff, which is smart by their coaching staff, but he is a matchup problem,” Wash said. “You have to decide, ‘Do I go base, do I stay base when he’s in the game? Do I go nickel? Do you go dime, if it’s an 11-personnel?’”
Goode, linebacker Myles Jack and Jacksonville’s safety duo of Jarrod Wilson and Ronnie Harrison will have to be on their A-game this Sunday. Goode is cognizant of the importance of the linebacker’s pass coverage this weekend, too.
“I mean, we take pride in it. Just understanding where we have to be on the field and then once the ball is thrown, we go hunt,” he said. “That is something that we are definitely going to continue to get better at and we are going to clean up the run week-to-week and get after it.”
