Indianapolis Colts shutout by Jacksonville Jaguars: 5 takeaways

Pathetic. Putrid. Embarrassing. Frustrating.

These are just some of the words that come to mind when you think of how the Indianapolis Colts looked Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This marks the franchise’s eighth straight loss in Duval County. Sunday’s game is also the third time that the Colts have been shut out since 2003. The Jags are responsible for all three games and this is the second time it has happened in the Frank Reich era.

There is nothing positive that Indianapolis can pull from this loss. It was an all-around terrible performance from the players to the coaching staff to the front office that put the roster together.

Here are my five takeaways from the game:

1
Passing attack had nothing

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Matt Ryan was missing his trusty weapon, Michael Pittman Jr. and it showed against the Jaguars. Nobody could get separation throughout the game. That led to Ryan holding the ball too long which led to him getting sacked or hit before he would throw the ball. This was very apparent in third and fourth down situations. Ryan was constantly scanning around the field for an open man and even when he got the throw off, he had to try to squeeze it in tight windows.

This was the gamble that Chris Ballard was willing to take with the receiving corps and it bit the team in you know where when his number one receiver was out for the day. To show how bad the offense was today, they only had 71 total yards at halftime.

It wasn’t all on the receivers, Ryan had his struggles as well. On the opening drive, he made a poor throw that led to his first interception of the day. He lofted the ball in the air and made it easy for Rayshawn Jenkins to get his hands on the ball. Ryan finished going 16/30 for 195 yards and three interceptions.

Ashton Dulin was the leading receiver. He caught five balls for 79 yards on seven targets but most of that production came in the fourth quarter when the team was down 24-0.

This was not the expectation of the offense with the addition of Ryan and if it doesn’t get fixed soon then there might be some changes coming for the organization.

2
Easy day for Trevor Lawrence

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This is the second straight game against Jacksonville that the Colts’ defense made it easy for Trevor Lawrence. He had plenty of time to sit back in the pocket to deliver throws…