Jaguars 22, Colts 17
INDIANAPOLIS -- Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert had less than a minute and 80 yards to go for the win. He didn't need near that much time.
Gabbert hit wide receiver Cecil Shorts III over the middle of the Indianapolis Colts' defense and Shorts took it all the way for a touchdown to give the Jaguars a 22-17 win on Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium.
It was a stunning turn of events after Adam Vinatieri's 37-yard field goal with 56 seconds left had given the Colts a 17-16 lead. But even Shorts' touchdown didn't completely seal the deal. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who had a career-high 313 yards passing, had two shots at the end zone from the Jaguars' 26-yard line, with a final pass knocked down as time expired.
Jacksonville improved to 1-2 while the Colts fell to the same record.
Until the flurry of activity at the end, Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew's mastery of the Colts had been the primary storyline.
Jones-Drew, a nemesis of the Colts since he entered the league, rushed for 177 yards with a touchdown -- his highest yardage ever against the Colts.
Jones-Drew entered the game averaging 101 yards per game in 12 meetings with the Colts. The dominance continued: Jones-Drew rushed for 70 yards in the first half, and then opened Jacksonville's first possession of the third quarter with a 59-yard touchdown run that closed the Colts' lead to 14-10.
The Jaguars came up big two series later when linebacker Paul Posluszny picked off a poor Luck throw. The subsequent Jacksonville drive stalled, but Josh Scobee hit a 47-yard field goal to pull Jacksonville within 14-13 with 2:55 left in the third. It was Scobee again, from 26 yards, to give the Jaguars their first lead of the game, 16-14, with 11:02 left.
The Jaguars went to Jones-Drew early and often, using him as a runner on five plays (for 28 yards) and a receiver (once for 11 yards) to set up their first score.
A big-third down strip by the Colts' Robert Mathis of Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert forced Jacksonville to settle for a field goal. Josh Scobee nailed a 44-yarder to complete a 14-play drive for a 3-0 lead.
Luck's first drive sputtered at the start, with Jacksonville bringing pressure and Luck being saved from an interception by a pass interference call. But he made two huge throws to put the Colts on the board. Luck hit Reggie Wayne on third down near midfield, then followed that with a 40-yard touchdown strike to rookie T.Y. Hilton to put the Colts up 7-3 with 3:42 left in the first. The catch was Hilton's second career reception.
Luck, who completed 22 of 46 passes in the game, engineered his third straight end-of-the-half drive, and his second score, by directing a 14-play, 80-yard drive, culminating in a four-yard touchdown pass to running back Mewelde Moore for a 14-3 halftime lead. Luck hit his favorite target Wayne four times in the drive.
But the Colts offense stalled in the second half, with multiple punts, turnovers and a scary moment where oft-concussed receiver Austin Collie went down on his first catch of the season. Collie's injury was to his knee this time.
Notes: Former Colts running back Edgerrin James was inducted into the team's "Ring of Honor" during a halftime ceremony. He joins former coach Tony Dungy and former teammate Marvin Harrison as the most recent inductees. Among the former teammates to congratulate him via video was Peyton Manning. ... Shorts' 80-yard touchdown reception tied for second-longest scoring catch in Jaguars history.
