The Colts were not atop their game against the Jaguars on Sunday.
The NFL is almost always guaranteed to provide fans with one or two big upsets each week. Unfortunately for the Indianapolis Colts, they were on the wrong side of this narrative in Week 1.
What was supposed to be an easy victory for Indy (they were favored by more than a touchdown) ended in utter humiliation as the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that is widely predicted to finish with the worst record in the league this season, pulled off a shocking 27-20 upset.
Losses really don’t come as inexcusable as this considering schedule-makers handed Indianapolis a seemingly cupcake matchup to open the year after having no preseason to shake off the rust. We won’t go as far as to say that the Colts took Jacksonville lightly as head coach Frank Reich normally has his players prepared for all contests, but it’s clear they weren’t up to the challenge.
Final. #INDvsJAX pic.twitter.com/b8AuPBMz7L
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 13, 2020
After failing to take advantage of a favorable matchup, Indianapolis is now 0-1 and faces a tough test in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans, who are coming off an appearance in the AFC Championship Game and are returning most of their starters from 2019.
Before we dive into a preview of that now crucial game, let’s try to highlight some key takeaways from the Colts’ inexplicable loss to an inferior Jaguars side.
3. Why was the run game abandoned?
The Colts oddly abandoned their elite rushing attack against Jacksonville.
It’s easy to unleash criticism on a team from a keyboard while tensions are high following an embarrassing loss, but we know what we just watched, and that was the Colts completely abandoning the run after jumping out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter.
Other than Jonathan Taylor, who managed just 22 yards on nine carries, Indianapolis’ rushing attack was fairly effective on the afternoon. Before suffering a potentially season-ending injury, starter Marlon Mack tallied an impressive 26 yards on four carries. Nyheim Hines also rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown on seven touches. In total, the Colts rushed 22 times for 88 yards and passed the ball 46 times … when they led for most of this one.
For a team that ranked seventh in the NFL in terms of rushing yards per game last season, having the three-headed monster combine to log 20 carries is inexplicable. We don’t care that they failed to produce any big gains. The Colts are built to have their run game open up the aerial attack and it was the polar opposite against Jacksonville for some reason.
Make no mistake about it: This puzzling decision undoubtedly contributed to Indianapolis’ loss.
2. This is the gamble the Colts took with Rivers
Colts QB Philip Rivers threw two costly interceptions against Jacksonville.
It’s worth noting off the bat that we weren’t totally upset with Philip Rivers’ performance in his Colts debut as he finished 36-of-46 (78.2%) for 363 yards and one touchdown. By any metric, those are solid stats.
The three-time Pro Bowler also did a spectacular job at sharing the wealth as five of his pass catchers logged more than 45 receiving yards. While that’s all well and good, Rivers unfortunately amplified the main concern among fans in Indianapolis when he was signed to a one-year, 25 million contract this offseason: Turning the football over.
A year after Rivers recorded 20 interceptions and eight fumbles, he was back to committing costly turnovers. His first interception resulted in a Jaguars touchdown and his second came on 3rd-and-3 with the Colts well short of midfield and trailing 24-20 late in the fourth quarter. The defense did well to hold Jacksonville to a field goal to keep Indy within striking distance, but we’ll never know what could have happened had he not been so reckless.
We had serious flashbacks to Rivers’ final days with the Chargers as he dropped back to pass 46 times (!) and was tasked with winning the game late. In the simplest of terms, we’re going to need to see less of that moving forward.
1. The defense looked awful
The Colts defense was nowhere to be found against Jacksonville.
As back-breaking as Rivers’ interceptions were, his debut with Indianapolis (for the most part) deserved a win today. Though another touchdown would have been nice, the bottom line is that 20 points should have been enough to come away with a victory against Jacksonville.
The Colts defense, which received constant rave reviews throughout the offseason and training camp following a number of key upgrades, put forth a disastrous collective performance. To think that Gardner Minshew finished 19-of-20 for 173 yards and three touchdowns — which equates to a staggering 142.3 passer rating — with hardly any resistance is a big problem.
While Indy’s pass rush did manage four sacks, it wasn’t nearly enough to mask the coverage issues from the team’s linebacking corps and secondary. Do we realize how all-time bad the Jaguars are supposed to be this season? It’s duly noted that Minshew is a baller, but surrendering close to 30 points against who is clearly the weakest opponent on their schedule is extremely disconcerting.
Hopefully this loss serves as a wake-up call for the Colts, because the offenses they face are going to be much more balanced and polished moving forward.