10 thoughts on the Colts loss in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE – Ten thoughts on the Colts’ 37-34 loss to the Jaguars at Everbank Stadium:

1. Another trip to Jacksonville, another loss. But this one was fun, competitive and kind of wild.

The Colts found a counterattack in them when their planned survival failed and they had to accept a two-point deficit.

They failed despite numerous injuries to key players, but that’s no real excuse against a winless team.

Ultimately, the Colts failed because they lacked enough depth on defense to do anything against a Jaguars offense that desperately needed a game like this.

However, the game gave us a lot to analyze, from that cornerback depth to the dependency on the pass rush to Alec Pierce’s explosive plays and Joe Flacco’s moxie and Anthony Richardson’s absence and lingering health questions.

2. Although Richardson practiced on a limited basis every day this week, he never really seemed in a position to play. In the practice time we were allowed to watch, he put almost no physical effort into his throws, just using all his arms and wrists to make a few passes here and there. The Colts seemed to be aware of this all along, as Joe Flacco took the majority of the reps.

It wasn’t physically impossible for Richardson to overcome the oblique injury, but it would have meant he would have to play without downfield passing or rushing, and he’s simply not built to succeed that way. The Colts were in a better position to win with a healthy Flacco, and keeping Richardson healthy and fresh for the long haul is more important than any single game this season.

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Another injury: Colts left guard Will Fries was sidelined with a right lower leg injury

3. I thought Flacco played pretty well for a backup quarterback, which is exactly who he is and will continue to be.

He controlled the game well with several short passes, which worked in the beginning but froze in the middle of the game.

He was caught on a bad turnover when he held the ball in the pocket too long and Braden Smith was handled by Travon Walker.

He said a few prayers, one of which was offered by Mo Alie-Cox for an acrobatic touchdown.

And he hit Alec Pierce a few shots late to give the Colts a chance to come back. But ultimately, he couldn’t lead this team past an offense the Colts refused to stop.

No, he won’t start when Richardson is healthy enough to be himself. He’s just here to provide a good baseline when Richardson can’t go.

4. I don’t understand why it took until the end of the fourth quarter for the Colts to get shots off Alec Pierce on a day when they had no explosiveness in the backfield without Jonathan Taylor or Richardson. In addition to being a dangerous receiver, Pierce is also a reliable player when it comes to spiking the ball, maintaining balance and paying attention to the details, something that his rookie receiver lacks.

Pierce went without a catch in the first half, but exploded down the stretch with three catches for 134 yards – an insane 44.7 per reception average. He exposed a Jaguars defense that loves to play well with bad cornerbacks, and he’s the sole reason the Colts were able to lock in that defense and avoid a blowout once the Jaguars’ offense got rolling.

5. Brian Thomas Jr. can really fly, and we saw that on his 85-yard track-meet touchdown in the second quarter.

But what we also saw was the problem of currently playing Dallis Flowers within reach.

He is still only 12 months removed from a ruptured Achilles tendon, and the general rule is that it takes a player two years to regain athletic performance, if he can fully recover at all. The players you see in less time usually don’t rely on their athleticism, like Kirk Cousins on Thursday night against the Buccaneers.

Flowers’ entire game is athleticism. It’s helped that Samuel Womack has stepped up and provided a solid No. 2 outside cornerback role so far, but this group has been a ticking time bomb since losing JuJu Brents, considering Flowers is still one at best Timeshare number 2 was. 3 option.

6. In the Colts’ recent losses to the Jaguars – a streak that now stretches to 10 on the road – one of the most obvious problems was the inability to get Trevor Lawrence to throw or do anything beyond his abilities . He came into this game completing more than 77% of his passes in their last five meetings together against the Colts.

Well, that was the same situation again in this case. A Colts pass rush that was missing DeForest Buckner, Samson Ebukam, Kwity Paye and Tyquan Lewis from the original plan didn’t touch Lawrence once.

In fact, he attempted 34 passes and the Colts didn’t record a single hit against him.

The reasons are understandable, but it shows how limited the plan to win is this season when everything is based on the pass rush. Without that influence, Lawrence did what he normally does with this team and more. He finished 28 of 34 for 371 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a gaudy 10.9 yards per attempt.

And that allowed the Jaguars to finish with 10.9 yards per play as an offense – or an average of one first down for every play played. That’s hard to beat.

7. It felt like Adonai Mitchell played a lot more in this game than in recent games. The Colts dropped him in two-receiver sets and subbed out Michael Pittman Jr. and Pierce.

And they tried to get him the ball early, with three scores on the first two drives, and then they took advantage on the return to Tyler Goodson for 24 yards.

It’s a testament to how explosive his potential is despite his previous lack of production and efficiency. Mitchell entered this game with just three catches on 14 targets, but has the best separation rating in the league due to his ability to fly and break into routes late.

8. However, the biggest problem with Mitchell right now is his refusal to get the ball in contested situations.

Flacco targeted him on a second-down throw early in the third quarter, and as two defenders approached, Mitchell extended an arm and barely moved his body. This felt like a business decision.

Later in the half, he dropped a pass that would have been harder to catch on the sideline, but it appeared to be another moment where he stared at the incoming score rather than securing the pass.

Some of Mitchell’s issues should be remedied with reps and time on the field. However, this part will be a hurdle he wants to overcome. The game won’t work for him until he makes it.

9. This trick game was a lot of fun.

The Colts threw what appeared to be a wide receiver screen to Mitchell, betting on the defense to bite on a high-usage player in their game script. Mitchell then looked down towards Alec Pierce to lure the pressing defenders vertically and to the right, only to throw left back to Tyler Goodson, who caught the ball on the right as Quenton Nelson caught a panicked defender into the Atlantic Ocean blocked.

Goodson then scampered 24 yards across the open field before lowering his shoulder and laying the wood to end the run.

10. Will Fries was forced off in the third quarter with an ankle injury, the latest blow to a team dealing with all sorts of injuries and, for him, basically just brutal luck.

Fries stepped in as a backup right guard as a seventh-round pick in 2022 when nothing the Colts tried up front worked. And I would argue that no player on the squad has gotten better faster than him during that time. He has developed into such a reliable pass protector that I thought he was worthy of a nice extension for this team after his contract year expired after this season.

Now he faces a potentially major setback that deals a blow to the strongest unit on the Colts roster so far this season.

See you next week in Nashville, where the Colts need a win to show they’re a team worth fighting for this season.

10 thoughts on the Colts loss in Jacksonville

ByJasper

By Jasper

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