Colts at Jaguars: A Q&A with Black and Teal
By Evan Reller
Oct 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri (4) celebrates with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (8) after making a game winning field goal against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis defeats Jacksonville 16-13 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
The Indianapolis Colts are in Florida to face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday so we spoke with Black and Teal for some inside information on this week’s foe.
The Colts (6-6) head south to face the Jaguars (4-8) with both teams trying to rebound from disappointing losses in Week 13. The Colts are hoping to keep pace the the Texans for the AFC South title while the Jags want to forget a shootout loss to the Titans by beating the defending division champs.
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The last time these two teams met, the Colts pulled off an overtime victory with Andrew Luck missing his first game of the season. But the Jags missed two field goals that would have won them the game, and that isn’t something the Colts can count on this time around.
I spoke with the editor of Black and Teal, Daniel Lago, to get some inside information with this week’s opponent. Make sure you check out our answers to their questions here.
Here’s what Lago had to say about the Jaguars:
1. Blake Bortles had a career game last week, but the Jaguars couldn’t pull off the win. Where is the team after the loss and what happened in Tennessee?
"Blake Bortles and Allen Robinson both had their best days as pros last week and the offense put the team in position to win. The problem, as it has been all season, was the defense. With absolutely no pass rush to speak of, the coaching staff has had to manufacture pressure with blitzes and that hasn’t always worked. Marcus Mariota‘s 87-yard touchdown run was a prime example of the repercussions of blitzing and not getting home. That’s been the story of the season – a young and emerging offense hampered by a defense that’s hanging on by a thread most games."
My take:
The Jaguars defense really is bad. They rank 28th in defensive DVOA per Football Outsiders. Why do they struggle late in games? It is generally the pass defense which ranks 28th in efficiency. They’re ninth versus the run, but you wouldn’t know that if all you saw was the Mariota run.
No pass rush? Wonder what that must be like, oh wait.
Next: Is Bortles the Future?