In their home opener, the Jacksonville Jaguars took down a divisional opponent in the Indianapolis Colts with a 24-0 shutout victory.
Both the Colts and Jaguars came into this week two matchup with many questions surrounding the team. The Colts came off a relatively lackluster week one performance where they tied with the Houston Texans. Jacksonville, on the other hand, lost a matchup with the Washington Commanders, after holding an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. This felt like a must-win game for both teams, and the Jaguars dominated the Colts all afternoon.
The Jaguars seized the momentum early on in the game and never looked back. Jacksonville got an interception on the first drive with safety Rayshawn Jenkins, as rookie Travon Walker helped to apply the pressure on Matt Ryan.
On the Jaguars’ opening possession, Trevor Lawrence led the offense 68 yards down the field and connected with Christian Kirk to jump out to an early 7-0 lead. James Robinson would later run in a 37-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead, all while having the longest rushing touchdown of his young career. Jacksonville continued to dominate the first half as they capped it off with a field goal, and went to the locker room with a commanding 17-0 lead at halftime.
Jacksonville did not let up in the second half and the Colts had no answers for the Jaguars. The Colts’ second half amounted to a punt, two turnovers on downs, and two more interceptions by Matt Ryan. Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk connected on their second touchdown of the afternoon with 17 seconds remaining in the third which would extend the Jaguars’ lead to 24-0.
The Colts and Matt Ryan struggled mightily in this contest. Ryan finished the game 16/30 with 195 yards passing, including zero touchdowns and three interceptions. Ryan was without two of his top wideouts in Michael Pittman Jr. and Alex Pierce, but running back Johnathan Taylor had a rough afternoon as well. Taylor only carried the ball nine times for 54 yards, and only contributed one catch in the receiving game.
Simply put, Jacksonville had an impressive bounce-back victory as many players stepped up their performances, including the coaching staff as a whole.
Trevor Lawrence completed 25/30 passes with 235 yards in the air, including two touchdowns to no interceptions. Christian Kirk contributed six catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
However, defensively is where the Jaguars’ identity was all afternoon in their dominant performance. Andre Cisco, Devin Lloyd, and Rayshawn Jenkins all registered their first interceptions as Jaguars. The Jaguars’ front seven sacked Matt Ryan a total of five times including one forced fumble by Josh Allen. The Jacksonville third down defense was just as important as they limited the Colts’ offense to only 2/10 in that department.
The Colts appear to now be in panic mode with their season potentially fading away after two lackluster performances against divisional opponents. The Jaguars are now poised to take a commanding lead in the AFC South as they currently hold the number one seed. Jacksonville remains the only team in the AFC South with a victory and will look to build on this momentum moving forward.
This will be no walk in the park for Jacksonville as they have two difficult opponents ahead of them in back-to-back weeks traveling to both the Chargers and Eagles. Jacksonville will take on the Los Angeles Chargers in a week 3 matchup at SoFi Stadium Sunday afternoon.