Gene Frenette: Defense, Agnew return deliver for Jaguars in shaky season opener with Colts
INDIANAPOLIS — Early in the fourth quarter, something close to an inexplicable Jacksonville Jaguars’ nightmare was unfolding.
The team many had pegged to be a Super Bowl contender was losing 21-17 to an AFC South divisional rival, one playing a rookie quarterback that had started only 13 college games and who now had no scary weapons in his support system.
Were the Indianapolis Colts, with greenhorn Anthony Richardson running the show and no running game, actually going to send shock waves across the NFL by taking sole possession of first place in the division?
How in the world were the Jaguars going to bail themselves out of this jam?
Probably since it’s worked so often before, they just figured Trevor Lawrence would come to the rescue at crunch time and work his magic. That’s what big-time quarterbacks do. They go win games when things get dicey, when outcomes hang in the balance.
Not that No. 16 wasn’t a contributing factor in the Jaguars rallying for a 31-21 victory Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. But the guys most deserving of a special acknowledgement for closing out this season opener in a Jaguars’ house of horrors were on Mike Caldwell’s defense, a unit that had been flying under the radar most of this offseason.
While the record will show running backs Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne scored the go-ahead and game-clinching touchdowns, respectively, in the final 5:14, the truth is the defense deserves to have the most rose petals thrown at its feet for the Jaguars pulling this one out.
Lawrence minced no words about what the impact of the defense throughout the game, especially after what he described as a “sluggish” third quarter by the offense put the team in harm’s way.
“That’s the game, it’s three phases,” said Lawrence. “If football was all about the offense, we would have been in trouble today. We pick each other up, we feed off one another. That’s what makes teams great. We got to continue to do that. There’s going to be a week where we’re going to have to pick our defense up. This week, they got some huge stops for us that we really needed.
“They played great. It was cool to see them fly around and make some huge plays for us.”
It wasn’t just the usual ballers — Foye Oluokun, Josh Allen, Andre Cisco, Tyson Campbell, Rayshawn Jenkins, Roy Robertson-Harris, Travon Walker — making key plays either.
Some lesser-known names like defensive linemen Adam Gotsis (pass breakup on fourth down) and Angelo Blackson (fumble recovery) also had significant moments that allowed the Jaguars to win at Lucas Oil for only the second time in 11 years.
“Relentless” Allen comes up big
The tone for this bizarre game, which featured both teams constantly struggling to move the chains in short-yardage situations, was set in the second quarter when the Jaguars wasted numerous chances to seize control of the game. One pass ricocheted out of Bigsby’s hands for a Tony Brown interception and another possession into Colts territory was sabotaged by a Kwity Paye sack.
Thankfully, the defense more than held up its end as the Lawrence-led operation — save for a 16-yard TD pass and breathtaking catch by Zay Jones — went through prolonged periods of inefficiency.
One Indianapolis drive ended at the Jaguars’ 16 when Robertson-Harris stuffed Richardson on a timid-looking quarterback sneak on fourth down. He was unable to move the chains despite needing just a half-yard.
The next Colts’ possession in Jaguars’ territory on fourth-and-4 ended with Gotsis knocking down a short pass for Michael Pittman. Another march across midfield was doomed when Cisco and Oluokun combined to knock the ball out from Deon Jackson, which Blackson recovered.
“We had some bad possessions in a row and they were able to come through and get a turnover, a turnover on downs, just get a stop and punt, whatever it was,” said Lawrence. “They played great. They played with that chip on their shoulder.”
Remember, this is a defense that finished 24th in yards allowed (353.3 yards) in 2022 and in the season-ending loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, permitted geriatric backup quarterback Chad Henne to lead a 98-yard touchdown drive when All-Pro Patrick Mahomes had to leave the game with an ankle injury.
Don’t think for a second those memories didn’t carry over into training camp and serve as fuel for this season.
“I think we had pressure on us the whole game,” said Allen, who had a career-high three sacks, two on back-to-back downs when Richardson tried to scramble toward the sideline. “I think as an outside linebacker group, I think we were the guys that needed to set the tone.
“We know that their best suit is their offensive line, so as a whole defensive line, we had to take control of the game. I think on the ends, we had to do our part — setting the edges, keeping the quarterback in the pocket and really going out there making tackles for losses.”
Two forced fumbles, two recoveries, four sacks and six TFLs are a pretty good indicator the defense put its stamp on this game, especially Allen, who is in a contract season.
“Man, Josh — he was very explosive,” said outside linebacker Travon Walker, who also had a sack. “That was the main thing. We came into the game telling each other to be relentless and with us being relentless, there’s no stopping us.”
Can defense be consistent force?
Undoubtedly, the Colts’ offense was stymied by not having running back Jonathan Taylor, who is on the PUP list and won’t be eligible to return until Week 5. Primary replacement back Deon Jackson managed just 14 yards on 13 carries. Even the powerful bruising Richardson was limited to 40 yards in 10 attempts.
Other than Pittman turning a bubble screen into a 39-yard touchdown to tie the game 14-14 early in the third quarter, the Colts struggled mightily to rip off any big chunks of yardage.
A lot of preseason hype about the Jaguars was tied to a potentially explosive offense, a narrative that wasn’t lost on Cisco and his defensive mates.
“To your point about the media being more offense-oriented, we heard that a little bit,” said Cisco. “Not that we were bad [as a defense], but we were in the shadows a little bit. The thing for us was to make a statement and let people know this is a complete team.
“It’s not driven by the offense. Our offense has a lot of firepower and they’re easily one of the best in the league, but we’re right there with them.”
Some might view that as a highly debatable point, considering the Colts are not exactly the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jaguars’ offense still put up 31 points on a so-so day.
But there’s no denying the defense probably did a little more than anybody to win this game, and that’s no disrespect to special-teams demon Jamal Agnew, whose 48-yard punt return ignited the go-ahead scoring drive that ended with Bigsby plowing into the end zone.
It was an impressive start for a unit that had been gutted for most of the last decade. It’s now supremely motivated to not be the reason the Jaguars fall short of lofty expectations.
“That’s what we need to do as a defense,” said Allen. “If we want to get to the goal that we need to get to, we have to make those plays, get off the field and give the offense a chance to score.”
Division road tests rarely easy
There was no feeling on Doug Pederson’s part that his team was going to come into Indianapolis and have their way from start to finish. He’s seen too many of these matchups, as a former NFL quarterback and head coach, to know divisional rivals clashing is seldom a cakewalk for the visitor, favorite or not.
“I’ve been around this league a long time to know that you go on the road, a division opponent, it’s going to be a dogfight,” said Pederson. “My hats off to our guys in the locker room for sticking it out for four quarters and pulling this one out.”
For someone making his NFL debut, Bigsby showed resiliency by not letting his muffed catch that became an interception, plus a mental error that led to a Colts’ touchdown, undercut his whole day. He picked up a loose ball off a strip-sack of Lawrence, thinking it was an incomplete pass and the play was dead. Instead, he allowed linebacker Zaire Franklin to knock the ball loose and DeForest Buckner, who had the sack, picked it up and ran for a 26-yard TD to give Indianapolis its only lead.
Bigsby came back and not only scored a critical TD, but gained four yards on the previous play for a first-and-goal when it looked it might go for a loss. It helped that tight end Brenton Strange pulled him along like someone moving heavy furniture.
“We talk about getting on every loose ball,” said Pederson. “For some reason [on the Buckner strip-sack], we all kind of froze. It’s obviously a learning moment for Tank, for the offense, the guys. For a young player to come back like he did and have those tough runs late in the game, it’s a credit to him.”
But most of the big plays, including a leaping interception by Campbell that set up Etienne’s spectacular 26-TD run to finish the scoring, came from a defense that wants to be regarded in equally high esteem as the offense.
“That was an incredibly athletic play, a great play when our team needed it most, too,” said linebacker Devin Lloyd. ““We got a legit defense. Our goal is to be one of the best in the league, top-5 for sure. Every time we’re on the field, we want to be a dominant defense.”
Pederson doesn’t expect any team in the first weeks of the season to be a “well-oiled machine.” There was certainly enough sputtering by the Jaguars’ offense to validate that point.
But what should be most encouraging, for this week anyway, it was the defense and not a well-hyped offense that deserved to take most of the bows.
Now if Caldwell’s unit can put on a similar display against the Chiefs and Mahomes when they come to EverBank Stadium next Sunday, then looking at the Jaguars as a Super Bowl contender won’t be just wishful thinking.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Rising to Occasion: Defense fuels Jaguars' comeback win over Colts
