Game Recap: Colts Invisible In Cringeworthy Duval Ass-Kicking
The Colts disappeared in their Week Two matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. If we’ve been paying attention, was anybody shocked?
Abysmal. Disastrous. Catastrophic. Ass-Kicking. Whatever you want to call it, it was ugly. The Colts traveled down to Jacksonville, but left their efforts and talents back in Indianapolis. Quarterback Matt Ryan said, ”today wasn’t good enough”, and that is a massive understatement. Brace yourselves, Colts fans. This recap is painful.
First Quarter: Jaguars 7, Colts 0
The first quarter started well with quick passes to Nyheim Hines to open up the offense. However, the rout was on early. Matt Ryan, facing pressure, attempted to throw a touch pass and was intercepted, starting the eventual downfall of the Colts. The Jaguars marched right down the field. Quick passes, including a fourth down conversion on fourth and three that had Kwity Paye in coverage, carved the Colts defense up for easy yards. Jacksonville took over nine minutes off the clock as Trevor Lawrence went eight for eight, ending that drive with a Christian Kirk touchdown.
The Colts did get the ball back, but the quarter came to a close quickly, ending with a Matt Haack punt with nine seconds left to play. Their drive ultimately unraveled with a strip-sack fumble (ignited by Jaguars linebacker Josh Allen) and an eight yard pass short of the first down needed to keep the drive going. Per Joel Erickson of the Indy Star: there was a sack, forced fumble and three quarterback hits in Ryan’s first seven drop-backs. Pain.
Trevor Lawrence to Christian Kirk! Lawrence goes 8-for-8 on the TD drive 🔥 📺: #INDvsJAX on CBS 📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/9Dbwnh03KL pic.twitter.com/QE13WpMfZQ — NFL (@NFL) September 18, 2022
Second Quarter: Jaguars 17, Colts 0
The Colts seemingly had everyone fooled as they started the second quarter. The team managed to force a punt and get the ball back to their offense. Unfortunately, the offense did absolutely nothing and put an already gassed defense back on the field. Then, the wheels came off.
Lawrence dinked and dunked his way up the field, including a twenty six yard pass to Christian Kirk. (Of course, the kind of things teams cannot let happen.) Not to be outdone, James Robinson joined the party with a back-breaking 37-yard touchdown to the house. To the amazement of perhaps every Colts fan everywhere, three defenders missed Robinson, including Stephon Gilmore who attempted to stop the score to no avail.
If the Colts not responding was on your bing card, you are a new winner! The Colts attempted to get something going, but the lack of proven wide receivers was evident today with Pittman and Pierce out. Dezmon Patmon drops a critical third down, and once again, the Colts offense showed no signs of life. The Jaguars then tacked on another three points with 1:48 left in the half. Of course, the storyline this quarter wasn’t complete without some miscues: an illegal shift/false start by Mike Strachan, a sack given up by left tackle Matt Pryor, and another false start, this time by right tackle Braden Smith. Yuck.
Disgusting.#Colts#ForTheShoe#DUUUVAL#INDvsJAX pic.twitter.com/6X0Evao590 — Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 18, 2022
Third Quarter: Jaguars 24, Colts 0
The team did show a pulse to start the third quarter, forcing a punt. However, this was short lived as well. They punted after a short drive, handing the ball back to Jacksonville to continue doing damage. Multiple plays of twelve yards, ten yards, eight yards, (anything they wanted) marched them down the field again. Christian Kirk was a menace to the team’s secondary, tacking on 21 more yards and eventually, a five-yard touchdown. Woof.
At this point, Jonathan Taylor appeared to be over this horrific team performance because he had his best run of the day, a whopping 21 yards, to end the quarter. That nifty little run gave the team a blazing 100 yards of total offense.
CHRISTIAN KIRK DESERVED HIS MONEY 😤 to score 2+ TDs (+1900) (via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/Rs6j4wPdwj — FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) September 18, 2022
Fourth Quarter: Jaguars 24, Colts 0
If you were still watching at this point, consider yourself a true fan. Today was not the team’s day. They finally found some sort of life and then sputtered in the red zone. They think they can. They think they can. They think they can…until they couldn’t. After forcing a three-and-out with 9:20 remianing, the Colts could not convert on the next drive. A back and forth between the teams ensued, but eventually came to a screeching halt when KeKe Coutee muffed a punt and Matt Ryan was intercepted twice in two drives. As the final seconds ticked, the Colts had been outscored 50-11 during the last two Jacksonville meetings.
Frank Reich: "They outplayed us, outcoached us … we'll learn from it. We'll pick ourselves up off the mat. A very poor showing in every way." — Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) September 18, 2022
The Chiefs come to town next week and as of right now, things are not in a good place. The high-powered offense of Patrick Mahomes and company will be tough to stop. Not to mention, the team has little to no answers at the wide receiver position without Michael Pittman, Jr., and the offensive line is a huge mess. (Lost in the five sacks given up today, Matt Pryor may not last long as the starter).
At this juncture, no matter what Frank Reich or Chris Ballard says, they need to come up with answers quick.
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