Jaguars @ Colts: This One Stings

JT: What just happened?

I’m at a loss for what to write. This game had all the makings of a classic (if you can have a classic between two AFC South teams). The Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars seem to be polar opposites. The Colts won all of their victories by one score on last minute drives while the Jaguars lost all of their “Ls” by one score on last minute drives. This game was disappointing for Jaguars fans because it was a pivotal win. Last week against the Houston Texans was an abysmal loss for Jacksonville and this game against the Colts was much needed to right the Jaguars ship. It didn’t pan out for JAX.

The NFL is a complex and difficult animal to understand. How does a team shut out another, 24-0, just four weeks ago, with a healthy Jonathan Talyor, and then lose a heartbreaker with 17 ticks left on the clock when both Jonathan Taylor and back-up Nyheim Hines were sidelined? At the beginning of the season JaguarsTalk thought the DB room was one of the questionable positions to worry about. Then, they dominated. They were great all season, minus the fourth quarter of the Washington game. Alas, any concerns I had about the Jaguars secondary were eliminated…until today. The Jacksonville Jaguars knew that Matt Ryan had no run game and was going to throw All Night Long, Lionel Richie style. Michael Pittman Jr., who did not play in the week two beating that Indianapolis took from Jacksonville, was now healthy along with his cohort in catching, Alec Pierce. Michael Pittman had 13 catches for 134 yards. He was all over the field. The one place he wasn’t was on my fantasy team this week because I benched him. I had complete confidence that the Jacksonville defensive backs would smother the Colts receivers, knowing full well they were doing nothing but passing. Indy was a one dimensional team and everyone in the entire world seemed to know that, with one exception, #26 CB Shaquil Griffin.

In defense of Shaq, immediately after the game, he owned it. He was interviewed post game and Jaguars team reporter, Ashlyn Sullivan let us know what he said. Shaq Griffin acknowledged “the defense couldn’t get off the field when it mattered most.” Further more he stated that the touchdown against him to win the game for Indy “will hurt.” JaguarsTalk watched an interview with Shaq and he put the loss squarely on his shoulders, a very mature and professional thing to do. But, he wasn’t the only issue with Jacksonville. Travon Walker extended a Colts drive with a roughing the passer call that resulted in a touchdown for Indy. Last week Trevor Lawrence put the loss against Houston on his shoulders, but he too wasn’t the only factor. Travon Walker extended a Texans drive with a roughing the passer call that resulted in a touchdown for Houston. I’m not hating on Travon but those two calls were literal game changers. As the number one draft pick in the entire NFL this year, he needs to play smarter. Learn from mistakes the first time, not the second or third, etc…We really like Walker and are going to need him to clean up his game. As for Shaquil Griffin, the Jags have some pretty good DB depth with Darius Williams, Tre Herndon and newly drafted Montaric Brown. This doesn’t bode well for poor cornerback play. Couple that with the fact that Griffin is a huge cap hit for the Jags and it’s been tossed around the socials that he may be a cap space casualty next season if he doesn’t pick it up. Let’s hope Griff gets his head back in the game and makes personnel decisions difficult for GM Trent Baalke.

Speaking of difficult decisions, the officials were handed what seemed like a very easy one on the go-ahead touchdown for Indianapolis. It was a rookie on rookie play. The Colts rookie tight end, Jelani Woods clearly pushed off rookie Jags linebacker Devin Lloyd, with two fully extended arms. The officials stared at the penalty in progress and refused to throw a flag. If that play was not offensive pass interference then that is even worse news for Jacksonville. Talk about insult to injury, linebacker Devin Lloyd should enter the concussion protocol immediately. If he wasn’t pushed then that means he, out of nowhere, suddenly fell backwards to the ground, without contact. A clear sign of ataxia, severely impaired balance or coordination and the loss of full control of bodily movements. This is horrible news, as the Jaguars really need Devin Lloyd on the field against the Giants in week seven. Or, and try to follow me here, the officials completely blew one of the most obvious calls of the entire game. Travis Kelce, of the KC Chiefs, was called for offensive pass interference against Buffalo this week for thinking about flicking the Bills DB with his pinky finger, yet two fully extended arms shoving Devin Lloyd in the chest sending him to the ground is legal? Oh my goodness this column has taken a bitter turn filled with complaints. I throw a flag on myself and vow to change my tune starting now.

Trevor Lawrence was fantastic against the Colts. He played one of, if not the best game of his career. Trevor set a record becoming the first quarterback in the history of the National Football League to lose when having 20+ passing attempts, 90%+ completion percentage, 3+ total touchdowns (2 running, 1 passing), and 0 turnovers. In addition Brent Martineau from Action Sports JAX tweeted that Lawrence has two (out of six) three touchdown games this season while he only had one all of last year. Martineau also stated that Lawrence has 9 TDs already this season and didn’t have 9 TDs last year until after turkey day. In short, Trevor Lawrence was run out of town last week for his horrible performance against Houston but today he truly played like the number one draft pick, generational QB that everyone expects him to be. Keeping the good news coming, Head Coach Doug Pederson ran the ball. I’m serious. The Jaguars ran the ball to the tune of 250+ rushing yards. Travis Etienne Jr. started on fire out of the gate, averaging 12 yards per carry in the first half. James Robinson averaged 7.3 yards per carry in that same span, while JaMycal Hasty, not to be left out, had a 61 yard touchdown scamper. Jamal Agnew on a pretty nifty little play call ran for 19 yards, and jumping into the fun was Trevor Lawrence who ran for two touchdowns and some pretty tough yardage. The run game was on-point against the Colts. The problem was the defense couldn’t put it together. The Jags defense recorded zero sacks on a 37-year-old Matt Ryan who spent all of last week picking himself up off the turf. Ryan dropped back to pass 58 times against Jacksonville, completing 42 for 389 yards. The Colts had six scoring drives and converted on two thirds of their third down attempts. After Trevor Lawrence orchestrated a 10-minute, 18-play, fourth-quarter drive to take the lead with just over two minutes left in the game, Matt Ryan went to work. He put together an 11-play, 66-yard game winning scoring drive leaving 17 seconds on the clock. It was his 37th fourth-quarter comeback. When asked about that final drive Matt Ryan stated, “you can’t play scared in those situations.” And that, folks, is why he is Matty Ice.

Let’s wrap this up with this week's “correctable mistakes.” Linebacker Josh Allen praised the offense after the game saying that they did their job and Trevor deserved a win with his level of play. Unlike every previous week, this week’s issue is a defensive one. The JAX D needs to learn to “defend the quick pass.” Daniel Jones is coming to Jacksonville and you better believe that the New York football Giants will be extensively analyzing this Indianapolis game film. Here’s to hoping both sides of the ball show up during the same game next week. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.