Behind Enemy Lines: Jacksonville Jaguars Q&A
By Evan Reller
The Indianapolis Colts head south to face the Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday for their first divisional game. I spoke with Daniel Lago, edit of Black and Teal, to get some behind the scenes information on this week’s opponent.
Check out our answers to their questions here.
1. How much longer will fans be forced to watch Chad Henne at quarterback? Its been clear for awhile that Blake Bortles is the better quarterback, so why not make the change?
You’re preaching to the choir. Almost no one outside of the coaching staff thinks Chad Henne should be the starting quarterback for the Jaguars. No one can really say if the Jaguars would have won their first two games with Bortles starting instead of Henne, but it’s hard to believe that the offense would have performed worse. The home opener against a division rival seems like the perfect time to start Bortles, but I don’t see it happening. If the Colts blow the doors open in the first half however, I don’t see how they can trot out Chad Henne in the second half. But nobody outside of head coach Gus Bradley knows when that switch is going to be made.
2. Maurice Jones-Drew was the bane of the Colts existence for years. Can Toby Gerhart fill that role in Sunday’s game?
Toby Gerhart has had a pretty rough go of it in his first two games, but it’s unfair to blame it all on him. The offensive line has been downright awful run blocking, often allowing free defenders to get to Gerhart behind the line of scrimmage. The Jaguars are likely making some changes in the starting lineup, so we’ll see how it goes. Gerhart can be effective if the holes are there, but they haven’t been through two weeks.
3. The Jags top two receiving threats are either out (Mercedes Lewis) or questionable (Allen Hurns) for Sunday’s game. Cecil Shorts is still a question mark as well. With a talented but young receiving corps, who should the Colts watch for as a downfield threat?
Second round pick Allen Robinson was looking very good this offseason before he was sidelined with an injury, and he looked like he was starting to get a little more comfortable in week 2 against the Washington Redskins. He and Marqise Lee are a nice one-two punch at receiver given their complementary skill sets. I wouldn’t be too worried about any downfield threats given Chad Henne starting, but Marqise Lee has shown the ability to beat his man deep.
4. Which player on offense and defense needs to step up for the Jags to get a win Sunday?
The Jaguars need a lot of players to step up on both sides of the ball to win on Sunday, but I’ll try to narrow it down. Offensively, it really does all come down to the quarterback who, unfortunately, happens to be Chad Henne. Over the last 6 quarters, Henne has led an offense that has been an unmitigated disaster. He needs to keep the chains moving on third down and be more decisive to avoid another beating like the 10-sack embarrassment against Washington. Defensively, the Jaguars need veteran defensive end Chris Clemons to step up. Clemons has been just OK and sometimes bad through two weeks, but he needs to have a good game and make sure Andrew Luck doesn’t have all day to stand in the pocket and carve up the Jaguars secondary.
5. What is your prediction for the game?
I can’t justify picking the Jaguars to win this game, and it probably won’t be close if Chad Henne is starting. The Jaguars just can’t do anything on offense right now. I’m going to say the Colts win 28 -13.