5 Things Learned: Colts Again Get Blitzed In Jacksonville

1. Back-Breaking Sequence

Back-Breaking Sequence: A backup quarterback playing like a backup quarterback isn’t the most shocking thing in the world. But one of the Colts best players this season had a costly early mistake on Sunday. That was Bernhard Raimann, back in the lineup after missing the last two weeks, getting beat on the first play of the second drive of the game by Jaguars stud Josh Allen (which came right after the Jaguars scored a touchdown on heir first drive of the game. The play was a very rare miss from Raimann, and it was a huge play, with Allen stripping Gardner Minshew and the Jaguars recovering the fumble. On the very next play, Travis Etienne took a Wildcat snap and ran 22 yards for a touchdowns, pushing the score to 14-3. It was a poor display of sudden change defense by the Colts. In 16 seconds, the Jaguars had scored 14 points. This sequence had the Colts heading down an all too familiar path from past games in Jacksonville. And it was such an abnormal play from Raimann, who has been so solid in his second year at left tackle. After both teams started the game with clock-eating scoring drives, this two-play sequence was a lightning bolt striking the Colts to a point they could not recover from.

2. Gardner Minshew Plays Like A Backup

Gardner Minshew Plays Like A Backup: One thing that Gardner Minshew has done quite well throughout his career is stay away from those turnover-type plays. He was a magnet towards them on Sunday, with many, many intercept-able balls (3 INTs for the game). Minshew completed his first 9 passes on Sunday, behind his expected dink and dunk rhythm. But that efficiency evaporated quickly thereafter. Simply, Minshew was awful after that, and looked nothing like the high-end backup he has been throughout his career. The first two Minshew interceptions were terrible airmails, and on plays that didn’t need anything forced. It’s probably worth noting the poorest Minshew has played this season (he’s played in 5 of the 6 games this year) has come when the opponent has had the chance to spend an entire week preparing for him, as opposed to the other in-game relief appearances he had. We know the Colts offense lacks juice without Anthony Richardson, so it can’t afford to be giving the ball away like it did twice in Sunday’s first half, which set the tone for another rough trip to Jacksonville. And it’s quite possible, the Colts are going to have to stick with Minshew for much, much longer than just the 4-week mandated injured reserve stay for Richardson. Again, the Colts are mulling the option for Richardson to have right shoulder surgery, which might indeed be the best thing for his health long-term, but would also be such a major bummer to his rookie year development. If Richardson misses the rest of the season, he would have played in 170 total snaps (for reference, the offense played 1,151 snaps last season).

3. Jonathan Taylor Role Increases

Jonathan Taylor Role Increases: As expected, the role for Jonathan Taylor did increase in his second game back. But let’s start with a fair Shane Steichen criticism from Sunday in not sticking with more of the run game early on. The Colts ended the first half with Gardner Minshew passes (25) tripling the number of combined carries for Jonathan Taylor/Zack Moss (8). A committed rushing attack, in warmer weather, could have tested the legs of the Jaguars a bit more, as Jacksonville was the first NFL team to play a game in the United States following back-to-back games overseas. But the Colts didn’t elect to use this plan, focusing more on Minshew’s arm to get things going in the first half. With Richardson out, the Colts need to lean heavily on this Taylor/Moss duo to do the heavy lifting for the offense. For Sunday, Taylor and Moss pretty much split the reps. Moss started and played 39-of-78 snaps, with Taylor logging 33 plays. Taylor finished with 8 carries for 19 rushing yards, to go along with 5 catches for 46 yards. Moss had 7 carries for 21 yards, to go along with 6 catches for 38 yards.

4. Defense Doesn’t Do Enough

Defense Doesn’t Do Enough: From the onset Sunday, the Jaguars achieved great offensive balance against the Colts, which was a huge reason in them scoring 3 touchdowns in the first half. Given how this roster has been built, and the current makeup of the Colts offense, Gus Bradley’s unit needs to do more. The Colts rookie cornerbacks received an expected baptism by fire on Sunday. So more onus falls onto the heavily invest Colts defensive line in such a game. And that group was way too quiet on Sunday (with two offsides penalties on the opening TD drive) especially with the Jaguars losing one starting guard (Brandon Scherff) in the first half, after they entered the game without their starting left guard (Walker Little). If you are pinning this loss on a specific unit, the offense has more to blame than the defense, but you can’t absolve the Colts defense at all. Not enough playmaking from the front seven, a group that has too much invested into it to not do more in that area.

5. Stinging Streak Continues

Stinging Streak Continues: All week long we tried to stress the importance of this one. For a Week 6 game, this one had some major divisional implications. That’s what is extra stinging about this, and not just another “Colts game in Jacksonville” feel to it. And with the loss, the Colts now are looking up at the Jaguars in the AFC South and have lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with the team viewed as the divisional favorite. While the Colts have the easier schedule the rest of the way, this loss is really stings the potential to put some early-season pressure on the Jaguars. It’s also another reminder that the Colts being a serious contender this year was always a premature thought. This streak—having not win in Jacksonville since 2014—now continues, along with the season opener streak of no Week 1 wins since 2013. The one common trend in such an awful annual effort in Jacksonville comes from a Colts offense committing multiple turnovers in each and every time during these losses. That was the case again on Sunday, with a second-drive strip of Gardner Minshew and then a second-quarter interception with the Colts driving to potentially cut the deficit back to one score. The Jaguars continue to flat out own the Colts when these teams meet in Florida.

6. QUICK HITTERS

QUICK HITTERS

–Injury Report: The following Colts were inactive on Sunday: RT-Braden Smith (hip), OG-Ike Boettger, CB-Tony Brown, DE-Isaiah Land, DT-Adetomiwa Adebawore. The following players got injured and did not return: WR-Alec Pierce (shoulder)

–Key Stat: Gardner Minshew completed his first 9 passes on Sunday. After that, Minshew went 24-of-46 with 3 interceptions and 1 touchdown.

–What’s Next: The Colts (3-3) will now return home for two straight, continuing their streak of 4 of 5 a Lucas Oil Stadium. It’ll be the Browns (3-2) visiting Indy for a 1:00 PM kick in Week 7.