Jaguars: Three keys to beating the Colts
The Jacksonville Jaguars head out to London this week to take on the Indianapolis Colts. With such a miserable start to the season, this game is not only a must-win for the team, but a must-win for the coaching staff. If head coach Gus Bradley can’t lead his team to a victory against their division rival, then he may be out of a job. At this point, the playoffs are almost out of reach for the Jaguars. However, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try. Here are the three things that the Jags need to do to keep Bradley’s job secure.
Lead a disruptive pass rush
As I have said before, the Colts’ offense begins and ends with Andrew Luck. If he’s on fire, the rest of the team is, too. If he’s on a cold streak, the offense gets little done. Luck still has problems with making the occasional bad decision. The Jaguars can make sure this happens often by putting pressure on him.
The Jaguars have six sacks so far this year – good, but not great. They also only have caused two interceptions this year. While the secondary definitely plays a role in this, having a better pass rush would make lives easier for the defensive backs.
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Air it out
The Indianapolis Colts have one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL today. Injuries have plagued what was an already-bad secondary. Their weak front-seven isn’t doing any favors for them, either. The Jaguars need to take advantage of that by stuffing the ball down their throats through the air. They’ve already been running a pass-first offense this year, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
However, what will be a problem is Blake Bortles’ decision making. He already has six interceptions to start the year off – not exactly something you’d want out of a franchise QB. The Jaguars will be taking on a team with only one pick in this season. If Bortles can find a way to make better decisions and stop forcing throws, then the Jaguars can easily overwhelm the Colts offensively.
Stay healthy
The Jaguars entered last week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens beaten and injured. This week, a lot of key players are still banged up, but at a lesser extent. Chris Ivory, Prince Amukamara, Malik Jackson and Kelvin Beachum all participated fully in Thursday’s practice. However, Dante Fowler Jr., Julius Thomas and Jared Odrick (among others) all sat out on Thursday due to injury.
They don’t have an ideal health situation right now. This makes staying healthy that much more important. If another key players were to be injured this Sunday, they’d really be in big trouble.
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