Indianapolis Colts Vs Jacksonville Jaguars: Beyond The Box Score
Nov 23, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (13) runs toward the end zone during the third quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts defeated the Jaguars 23-3. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
It wasn’t pretty, but the Indianapolis Colts were able to grab a win on Sunday at home against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars 23-3. While it didn’t quite resemble a 44-17 thrashing from earlier this season, Indy still was able to earn a W against a team that had their number in several areas.
It was a tale of two halves in Indianapolis on Sunday as it seemed that the Jaguars could do no wrong defensively in the first half. They held the Colts to just six points while also scoring a field goal of their own. However, Indy switched gears in the second half, coming out throwing the football. The Colts got Trent Richardson into the end zone and also found T.Y. Hilton downfield to indefinitely switch the momentum back to Indy. Jacksonville’s offense sputtered all game and had no answers for a stout Colts passing defense.
Here’s a few things that I saw on Sunday:
No Bradshaw, No Problem:
Okay, maybe that’s pushing it; Ahmad Bradshaw will be greatly missed in this offense. However, against (admittedly) a bad Jaguars defense, the running attack was potent. The Colts got 175 total yards on the ground from several different players. However, most telling is the new feature back combination. Trent Richardson and Dan Herron combined for 107 yards and a score on 25 carries. That’s a bit over 4.2 YPC; not bad for a backfield that just lost their best player. It’s yet to be determined whether this new combination can work against a team that actually can stifle the run (Dallas is the only team on the remaining schedule in the top half of the league stopping the run). However, for now, the Colts may have found a diamond in the rough out of Boom Herron.
Cribbs may be pickup of the season:
He may not have been involved with the offense at all, but the man contributes a ton in the return game. In his first action as a Colt, Cribbs returned the opening kickoff 46 yards. He also had a punt return for a touchdown called back due to an untimely Josh Gordy penalty. Despite not getting the points, Cribbs looked good in his first game of action without much playing time with the special teams unit. It’s a sign of good things to come from the aging veteran. His wheels still work great.
Cornerback catastrophe:
Don’t read this the wrong way: Vontae Davis may be the Colts’ saving grace on defense. However, at one point on Sunday, Davis and Gordy (who’s been really bad this season) were the only healthy cornerbacks that the Colts had. Darius Butler was hobbled early in the game while Loucheiz Purifoy battled an undisclosed injury. Greg Toler was sidelined due to a concussion. Once there were only two healthy cornerbacks, the Jaguars started taking advantage. Blake Bortles started to find open receivers across from Josh Gordy while also taking advantage of slot receivers with no straight man coverage from a nickel corner. Hopefully the injuries are minor to all three hobbled cornerbacks and they can all come back full strength against Washington next Sunday.
Major offensive line woes:
Every single Colts fan who tuned in to the first half could see the problem in their Colts’ offensive production: Andrew Luck was consistently on the ground. The difference between a non-pressured Luck and a hurried Luck was obvious. When Luck could stand up in the pocket, he found targets downfield and in the intermediate passing game. However, he was attempting to wrestle with Chris Clemons nearly the entire first half. Clemons had the number of Joe Reitz, a stand-in for the injured Gosder Cherilus, by taking Luck to the ground three times along with forcing a fumble. The Colts need to figure something out at offensive line or Andrew Luck may not get up. Speaking of the ol’ playmaker…
Andrew Luck was bad:
Yup. As a Colts fan, it seems like a penalty worthy of stoning to say that franchise hero Andrew Luck had a terrible game. But alas, Luck was downright dreadful in this one. He had to run out of the pocket, but the fumbles were unacceptable. Luck made a high school mistake attempting to make something out of two Jaguars in his face, in turn, fumbling the football deep in Colts’ territory. Tack on a few passes that were just straight inaccurate and taking a whole half to figure out how to elude Jacksonville’s rushers, chalk this one up as one of Luck’s worst of the season. He’s been prolific lately, so it was expected he’d still be in form against the 28th ranked pass defense in the NFL. Bad game from a man attempting to become elite.