Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 3 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at WAS | CAR at MIN | CIN at NYG | CLE at BAL | DAL at GB | DET at SF | HOU at TEN | JAX at IND |
| KC at ATL | MIA at NE | NO at DEN | NYJ at SD | OAK at BUF | PIT at PHI | STL at SEA | TB at CHI |
Week 3 Game Recap: Jacksonville Jaguars 23, Indianapolis Colts 21
What you need to know
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
The Jaguars controlled the time of possession for most of the game thanks in large part to a stout running game and an accurate short passing game, to pull away with the victory in a very close game that came down to a 51 yard field goal by Josh Scobee with four seconds remaining. Jacksonville came into the game with an inefficient two touchdowns in seven red zone tries, and seemed to be experiencing the same struggles early on. They had two drives of 70 or more yards that resulted in a field goal and a failed fourth down play inside the Colts' 10 yard line, and followed those drives up with an interception to culminate a drive that took eight minutes and 41 seconds. However, despite missing four of their top offensive linemen, the Jaguars showed a tremendous commitment to running the ball, especially in the second half when they dominated the time of possession, keeping the ball for 12 minutes 40 seconds in the third quarter and the first 12 minutes and 33 seconds of the fourth quarter.
Jacksonville's offensive linemen did a much improved job of blocking, and Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew did the rest. They both ran for over 100 yards, with Taylor carrying the ball 26 times, and Jones-Drew 19, including one for a touchdown. Taylor ran with very good power, attacking the line of scrimmage and routinely dragging defenders with him for extra yards. Jones-Drew complemented Taylor well, showcasing his explosiveness and speed when in the open field.
Jones-Drew was the only player targeted in the first half by David Garrard, but Garrard spread the ball to other players in the second half, although Matt Jones was the only one to receive more than two targets in the second half. Garrard threw mostly short passes as the Jaguars' running game gave him favorable down and distance plays, which helped negate Indianapolis' pass rush. His receiving options were hindered as Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson were inactive due to injuries, and Dennis Northcutt left early due to a leg injury. Overall, Garrard did a good job of placing the ball where his receivers could usually gain some yards after the catch.
The Jaguars ran 12 plays in the red zone, and came away with a touchdown and field goal along with a failed fourth down attempt. Eight of these plays were in goal to go situations, and they ran the ball six times. Taylor and Jones-Drew had three carries each, with Jones-Drew running one in for a touchdown. One of the two goal line passes was to Jones-Drew, while the other was intentionally thrown away. Jacksonville showed a strong commitment to the run and utilized both of their running backs between the tackles on most of their plays.
| Indianapolis Colts |
The Colts managed to remain in the game despite the significant disparity in time of possession by being efficient with some of their possessions. Early on Peyton Manning was in sync with his receivers, and Joseph Addai ran well, but the passing game sputtered afterwards until late in the game when they took the lead. Indianapolis rode the strong running of Addai and accurate passing by Manning to take a 14-10 halftime lead, but gave up an interception for a touchdown in that half. Thanks to Jacksonville's dominating the time of possession in the second half, and taking the lead, the Colts relied heavily on the passing game, but had very few opportunities.
Addai ran the stretch play well, was quick to the hole, and displayed a good burst as he attacked the second level of the defense. He was very effective in the first half, but had limited opportunities in the second half, although the coaching staff displayed a lot of confidence in him by calling a running play for him late in the fourth quarter from the two yard line. He rewarded their confidence in him by scoring the second of his touchdowns to give Indianapolis the lead late in the game.
Manning was accurate for stretches, but inaccurate at other times. He missed receivers who were open seven times during the game. Admittedly at times his passes were rushed due to pass rushers being in his face as he too was missing some starters on his offensive line. However, there were times when he had time and just overthrew his target, including Marvin Harrison twice and Reggie Wayne once. Manning did make an effort to get Harrison involved, and targeted him ten times, by far the most targets any of his receivers had. Harrison ran good routes, and showed good burst in and out of his routes, and could have had bigger numbers if not for Manning missing him as he got open deep just outside the end zone, and for defenders committing penalties on him on a couple of other plays. Dallas Clark returned and was the recipient of the first play of the game, where he made a very good catch and turned up field for a 29 yard gain. He caught the first four passes thrown to him, but left briefly after being hit on his fifth target in the second half. He was not targeted afterwards.
The Colts ran seven plays inside the red zone, with six of those plays inside the five yard line. Manning attempted three passes, one to Harrison for a touchdown, while the other two were incompletions, thanks to Jacksonville's pass rush, which tipped one pass at the line of scrimmage, and forced Manning to throw the ball away on the other. Addai received the three goal line carries, and scored twice.
What you ought to know
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 16 - 22 - 167 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 8 - 0 |
Garrard did a very good job of getting first downs when he had to with the passing game. He was very accurate on his throws, which were mostly of the short variety. Garrard relied on his running game, and usually only had to throw short passes in order to gain a first down and keep the chains moving. He remained in the pocket most of the time, and only scrambled for yards twice. Apart from his interception when he forced the ball into double coverage while escaping the pocket, he was safe and accurate but did not have many opportunities to make big plays in the passing game.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 26 - 121 - 0, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (2 targets) |
Taylor carried the ball with great determination, attacking the line of scrimmage and refusing to go down at first contact. When he got through the line of scrimmage, Taylor showed very good cutback ability and speed to get by the first defender who came up to tackle him. He was very involved in this game emotionally also, cheering his teammates on from the sidelines.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 19 - 107 - 1, Rec: 4 - 59 - 0 (4 targets) |
Jones-Drew ran with great power, explosion and elusiveness, breaking tackles routinely and also making defenders miss at other times. He was very effective in the first half, turning short passes into good gains by using his speed and elusiveness in the open field. He limped off the field briefly at one point, but returned shortly thereafter and ran with the same power and authority he displayed earlier.
| RB Montell Owens, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets) |
The reserve fullback made a great catch of a ball that fluttered his way after it was deflected by a defensive lineman and converted it into a first down.
| RB Greg Jones, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (1 targets) |
Jones was very effective as a blocking fullback, but turned his one target into a first down play.
| WR Matt Jones, Rec: 4 - 32 - 0 (5 targets) |
Jones was the most targeted player, and was asked to run short routes exclusively. He did a good job of that, and used his size to put himself between the defender and the ball and make the catch. All four of his receptions were for first downs.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (2 targets) |
Williams was targeted exclusively on short passes, and caught one while the other was intercepted. He was also used on a reverse that did not gain any yards.
| WR Mike Walker, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Walker was overthrown on his first target, but made his first catch of the season with eight seconds remaining to help keep the Jaguars alive.
| WR Dennis Northcutt |
Northcutt left very early with a leg injury and was not involved in the game.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (2 targets) |
Lewis was the only tight end targeted in the game, and caught both of his targets. His receptions were for first downs.
| PK Josh Scobee 3 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points |
Scobee made both of his point after attempts and all three of his field goal attempts, which were from 26, 21 and the game winner from 51 yards.
| JAX Rush Defense |
Jacksonville's defense did not do a good job of containing the Colts' running game, giving up an average of 5.67 yards per carry to Indianapolis' running backs. In addition to that, they allowed two short-yardage rushing touchdowns. The Jaguars were unable to get penetration on running plays and the linebackers and safeties had to provide support on most of the running plays.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Jaguars did an effective job of blitzing Manning with their linebackers. They were able to disrupt some of his throws and although they only recorded one sack, intercepted him twice. The pass rush pressure generated by the Jaguars also resulted in Manning having to hurry some of his throws, which enabled their defensive backs to make plays on the ball to prevent receptions. However, they did allow the Colts to drive on them seemingly at will late in the game when Indianapolis scored to take a lead with just over a minute remaining.
| QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 15 - 29 - 216 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - 12 - 0 |
Manning did not get into a consistent rhythm during the game. He looked excellent in short bursts, but in part to his lack of opportunities, seemed uncomfortable at times. Manning made good decisions in terms of where to throw the ball and to whom, but at times missed the receivers. At other times, such as on their last drive, he seemed in sync with his receivers and moved his team to the go ahead score with a commanding passing performance. Another contributing factor to Manning being off target at times was the Jaguars blitzed he and his depleted offensive line frequently, which disrupted the timing with his receivers. He did show the arm strength to make all the throws asked of him.
| RB Joseph Addai, Rush: 16 - 78 - 2, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Addai ran very well when given the opportunities, and capitalized on his goal line opportunities with two touchdowns. He ran with excellent vision, making the right reads and accelerating quickly into the second level of Jacksonville's defense routinely. Given the limited number of offensive possessions the Colts had, Addai had an excellent game.
| RB Dominic Rhodes, Rush: 2 - 24 - 0 (1 targets) |
Rhodes played sparingly, and had one nice run for 20 yards.
| WR Marvin Harrison, Rec: 4 - 40 - 1 (10 targets) |
Harrison only caught four of the ten passes thrown his way, but he was open for a couple of passes that were off the mark, and drew a penalty on his defender on another occasion, and felt he did on yet another play designed for him that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Harrison ran his routes precisely, and was used on short, intermediate and a couple of deep routes, and was the first option on the touchdown catch he made in the corner of the end zone.
| WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 3 - 74 - 0 (5 targets) |
Wayne did not have many opportunities, but showed his big-play ability when given the opportunity. His route running was exemplary, which resulted in him being wide open for most of the passes thrown his way, a couple of which were errant. Wayne was pushed out of bounds at the two yard line late in the game to set up the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
| WR Anthony Gonzalez, Rec: 2 - 37 - 0 (3 targets) |
Gonzalez dropped one pass, and came up short on one of his receptions, as he fell backwards after catching a long third down pass that stalled a possession. He displayed good speed and running after the catch ability on his receptions, but was not featured much in this game.
| TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 4 - 47 - 0 (5 targets) |
Clark caught the first four passes thrown to him and picked up where he left off with Manning. He ran a variety of pass plays, mostly short and intermediate routes, and appeared comfortable returning from his injury. He left the game after being hit hard on his fifth target, but returned.
| TE Tom Santi, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Santi's lone reception came on a third and ten play on Indianapolis' final drive, which he took for seven yards, setting up a more manageable fourth down play.
| PK Adam Vinatieri 0 - 0 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points |
Vinatieri made all three of his point after attempts, and did not have any field goal attempts.
| IND Rush Defense |
Missing Bob Sanders, Indianapolis' rush defense was pushed around by a Jacksonville offensive line that was missing three starters. Although the Jaguars showed they were committed to running the football, the Colts were unable to slow them down, and as a result were on the field for the vast majority of the second half. In addition to giving up a rushing touchdown and 100 yards rushing to both Taylor and Jones-Drew, Indianapolis gave up over 5.0 yards per carry to these two players on 45 rushing attempts.
| IND Pass Defense |
The Colts' pass defense was aggressive, but that aggressiveness was counteracted by Jacksonville focusing almost exclusively on short passes which prevented them from having the time to sack Garrard or disrupt many of his passes. While they did not allow big plays, Indianapolis' defensive backfield allowed a high percentage of completions, with several of those completions resulting in first downs and extending Jacksonville's drives.