If there’s one player who can tilt the AFC South race on Sunday, it’s Laiatu Latu off the edge.
As both the Indianapolis Colts and Jaguars enter Week 14 tied atop the division at 8–4, and with Indy facing Jacksonville twice over the next four weeks, this is a defining stretch of the 2025 campaign for both groups.
Control of the division, tiebreakers, momentum, and the chance for the Colts to reclaim their spot as the AFC South’s most physical, disruptive team is on the table here, and driving that identity right now is their ascending second-year sack artist.
Peeling back the layers a bit, Latu has been tremendous in his sophomore NFL season, the exact type of leap general manager Chris Ballard envisioned when he drafted him in on night one last spring.
Can Laiatu Latu be disruptive for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14 against the Jaguars?
He’s already doubled his rookie-year sack total, and he enters Week 14 playing his best football of the season -- nine pressures and two sacks in the last two weeks highlight the upward curve of a player who is gaining comfort, confidence, and sophistication as a consistent threat off the edge.
What makes Latu such a problem is the variety in his wins. He’s long, explosive, and violent with his hands, but he’s also growing into a technician. He can soften the edge and win high-side with speed. He can counter back underneath when tackles overset.
He can reduce and slice inside. In the run game, he’s sealing edges with strength and discipline -- it's why the Colts view him as a true three-down defender and somebody who can impact every facet of the game.
This week, all of that matters.
When Trevor Lawrence gets to stand tall in clean pockets, Jacksonville’s passing game can feast. While he’s still one of the league’s purest throwers of the football, and he can dice up coverages when everything around him is stable, but when the rush gets home -- when his platform becomes disrupted, when timing is altered -- those are the moments where the inconsistency creeps in.
Those are the snaps where the Jaguars’ offense sputters, where Lawrence forces throws or misses windows he typically hits.
And that’s the exact lane Latu has to occupy on Sunday. If Indianapolis’ front can win on its own, the coverage becomes cleaner, the disguises more effective, and the margin for error greater.
For Indy, Latu is the Colts’ tone-setter right now, the defender they drafted for games just like this -- divisional, high stakes, and physical from snap to snap. If he delivers again, the Colts can walk out of Jacksonville alone atop the AFC South, with another massive matchup looming next week against Seattle.