Horseshoe Hero: Colts Dominate at Jacksonville
Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter of their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field.
Photo by Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
Horseshoe Hero
Colts 37 – Jaguars 3
The Colts improved their record to 3-1 Sunday afternoon with an easy 37-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The win, albeit impressive at first glance, was not too revealing about either team. The Colts were expected to win and did so in businesslike fashion, just as the Chiefs, Raiders, and Seahawks did before them. Jacksonville is now 0-4 and doesn’t look to be improving anytime soon. The Colts, on the other hand, are indeed looking better each week on both offense and defense.
Andrew Luck did not throw a touchdown pass last week, but this week he had two. For the fourth consecutive week, the sophomore QB completed more than 50% of his passes and went 22-for-36 on the day. His one and only pick came early in the game on a pass intended for T.Y. Hilton. Hilton and Luck seemed out of sync much of the day, but Luck had plenty of success with other receivers, most notably Reggie Wayne and Coby Fleener.
Wayne displayed his athleticism through several acrobatic catches throughout the course of the game. When the clock ran down to zero, Wayne ended up with 100 yards and a touchdown on just five receptions. Those numbers enabled him to become just the 11th player in NFL history with at least 13,000 career receiving yards and 80 touchdowns. Wayne received one of two game balls handed out by Head Coach Chuck Pagano in the locker room postgame.
While Wayne is a 13-year veteran, the young Coby Fleener is in just his second season and has a bright future ahead. He has met the challenge of replacing the injured Dwayne Allen admirably and had 77 receiving yards and his own touchdown also from just 5 receptions.
Once again, a running back shined for the Colts, but once again it was not the newly acquired Trent Richardson, who is still learning the playbook. Richardson did have a touchdown, his second in as many games with the Colts, but on the day he rushed for an average 60 yards on 20 carries. It was Donald Brown, a former first round pick in his own right, who excelled. Brown rushed for 65 yards on just three carries, including one scintillating 50-yard run that set up Richardson’s touchdown in the second quarter.
On defense, the Colts once again far exceeded expectations. The unit held Jacksonville to just 205 net yards of total offense and completely shut down Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew. MJD has historically had his way with the Colts defense, averaging 106.8 yards a game vs. Indianapolis. But on Sunday, Jones-Drew rushed for a measly 23 yards on 13 carries. The past two weeks on the road, the Colts have held opponents to just 10 points.
Darrius Butler, Vontae Davis, and Josh Gordy each had interceptions of quarterback Blaine Gabbert, but Robert Mathis received the second game ball given out by Coach Pagano after recording a sack in his fourth straight game. Mathis is now 29th on the all-time sack list. One more sack will make him a member of the 100-sack group, an elite club that currently includes just 29 players.
Next week the Colts will have a much greater challenge when they welcome the 4-0 Seattle Seahawks to Lucas Oil, but they are definitely trending upward.