Jaguars vs. Colts: Complete Week 12 Preview for Indianapolis
Expectations for the Indianapolis Colts have been lowered after an ugly 42-20 loss to the New England Patriots last week on Sunday Night Football.
Luckily, the AFC South is the gift that keeps on giving.
This week, the Colts will have a chance to get back on track against the 1-9 Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite being just 6-4, the Colts still have a lead in the division, and as long as they can beat the teams they should beat, they'll be playing in the postseason.
In order for that to happen, however, the Colts can't overlook the Jaguars. Jacksonville might not have the most talented team, but it has given Indy trouble in the past, so both the offense and defense will need to be ready. The defense will need to play especially well after giving up 39 points per game over the past three contests.
"It's definitely frustrating because we're a good defense," defensive tackle Arthur Jones told the Associated Press, via Fox Sports. "We just have to be consistent."
The Colts should turn things around this Sunday, but before they play the game, let's preview their Week 12 matchup against Jacksonville.
Week 11 Recap
1 of 5
The Patriots might not have had LeGarrette Blount this time around against the Colts, but that didn't mean that they didn't have another power back to run all over Indy's defense.
Former undrafted running back Jonas Gray looked good from the start against the Colts, running in his first touchdown of the game on New England's first drive after the team had put up 77 yards on the ground. In the second quarter, he found the end zone again, this time putting the Patriots up 14-3.
The game would have been a blowout in the first half, but two interceptions from Tom Brady to Mike Adams gave the Colts hope. A late touchdown from Andrew Luck to Hakeem Nicks just before halftime helped the Colts draw closer at 14-10.
Unfortunately, two early turnovers made Brady angry, and the Patriots offense came back and kept punching the Colts defense in the mouth. Gray added two more touchdowns in the second half, finishing the game with 201 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries.
An early fourth-quarter touchdown from Luck to Anthony Castonzo made it a one-possession game at 28-20, but a Gray touchdown and then an angry 26-yard score from Rob Gronkowski helped seal the win for New England.
The defense was bad for the Colts, but the lack of a running game was even worse. The Colts ran for just 19 yards on 16 carries, and 15 of those yards came from Luck. Trent Richardson carried the ball six times but finished without a single yard gained.
Almost nothing went right for Indianapolis last week, so it will be busy making adjustments heading into Sunday.
News and Notes
2 of 5
Colts Reportedly Attempt To Claim Ben Tate
With the recent move to put Ahmad Bradshaw on injured reserve, the Colts are left with few options at running back. Richardson will now get the majority of the carries, but just like last season, he's struggled, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry.
Apparently, the Colts were attempting to bring in some help in the backfield. According to ESPN's Field Yates, the Colts were one of the teams trying to claim former Cleveland Browns running back Ben Tate, but the Minnesota Vikings had waiver priority.
Tate struggled during his time in Cleveland but was a productive back behind Arian Foster with the Houston Texans. The Colts were hoping that they could add some more insurance behind Richardson, but they'll now have to hope that their current backs can step up.
Josh Cribbs Joins Colts as Kick Returner
It's been another rough season for Colts kick returners, who have averaged 24.1 yards per return with a long of just 32 yards. Historically, the Colts haven't had great kick returners, but they found someone this week who will try to change that.
The Colts announced on Twitter that they had signed 31-year-old Josh Cribbs. After spending almost his entire career with the Browns, Cribbs played just six games last year with the New York Jets, catching two passes for six yards.
Cribbs likely won't be used on offense, but he will definitely field kickoffs to try and break off some big runs. During his career, he has returned eight kickoffs for touchdowns but hasn't returned one all the way since 2009.
This was an interesting move by the Colts, but if Cribbs can break off a few nice returns before the end of the season, it will pay off.
Reggie Wayne Has Faith in Coby Fleener
Injuries weren't kind to the Colts last week, as the team lost Bradshaw for the year and Dwayne Allen left Sunday's game early. While the running game was nonexistent, Coby Fleener did a very nice job in Allen's absence, catching seven passes for a career-high 144 yards.
With Allen officially out for this week (check next slide for the injury report), Fleener's teammates are expecting him to do big things.
Veteran receiver Reggie Wayne praised Fleener to Kevin Bowen of Colts.com:
"We’ve seen this in Coby in spurts. But like I told him, ‘There’s no going back. There’s no going backwards. From here on out, you just set the standard. You just set the table so now everybody is going to expect you to perform this way every week. Coby is to the point now where everything should be going and we believe it is. He showed that the other night.
"
As long as Allen is out, Fleener will keep getting targets, so we'll see if he can continue to produce like he did against the Patriots.
Injury Report
3 of 5
| Player | Position | Injury Status |
| Dwayne Allen | TE | Out |
| Gosder Cherilus | OT | Out |
| Arthur Jones | DT | Probable |
| Trent Richardson | RB | Probable |
| Greg Toler | CB | Out |
Note: All injury statuses are from Friday's practice via Colts.com
The past week was not kind to the Colts regarding injuries. Bradshaw's season-ending injury hurts the running game, but the team will have to deal with even more injuries on Sunday.
Dwayne Allen left last week's game and will not play against the Jaguars. He's been arguably one of the best all-around tight ends in the NFL this year, leaving some pretty big shoes for Coby Fleener to fill. Fleener should produce in the passing game, but he's not nearly as reliable as a blocker in the running game.
Because of a concussion, Greg Toler will also miss the game. That will put a lot of pressure on Darius Butler to play opposite Vontae Davis. Butler has been dealing with some injuries of his own this year, and they've clearly been slowing him down. Hopefully, an easier test against the Jaguars won't expose that potential weakness in the secondary.
Barring anything crazy, the only other starter who will miss this game is Gosder Cherilus, but that might actually be a good thing. He has struggled on the right side of the offensive line, so Joe Reitz or Xavier Nixon may actually end up being an upgrade at right tackle.
The good news is that Indy shouldn't miss any of these players too badly this week, but they'll need to get back on the field before the playoffs begin in order to give their team a shot at a deep postseason run.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
X-Factor and Matchups to Watch
4 of 5
Colts Run Defense vs. Denard Robinson
Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has found a home in the NFL, and it's at running back for the Jaguars. While expectations weren't high for him after being selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL draft, he's actually become the most productive weapon in Jacksonville's offense this year.
Robinson has been a workhorse for the Jaguars over the past four games, carrying the ball at least 15 times in each game. During that four-game stretch, he's run for 389 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
The Colts run defense got gashed last week, and even with Jones possibly returning on the defensive line, Indy will need to make sure to contain Robinson as best as it can in the running game.
Joe Reitz or Xavier Nixon vs. Red Bryant
Gosder Cherilus has struggled all year, and with him being absent from practice all week, he'll be sitting out on Sunday. Since he can't go, that means someone like Xavier Nixon or Joe Reitz will have to take his place against one of the Jaguars' more reliable defenders in Red Bryant.
Bryant has gotten to the quarterback a couple of times this year, but where he really helps the Jaguars is against the run. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton will almost certainly be trying to establish the run this week after such an ugly performance last week, which means that the Colts will have to keep an eye out on Bryant.
I expect the Colts to do a better job containing Bryant without Cherilus. The veteran offensive tackle just hasn't looked right all year, and if Reitz or Nixon can hold his own this week, there's a chance that Cherilus could get benched by the end of the year.
Colts Linebackers vs. Marcedes Lewis
For the first time since Week 2, Marcedes Lewis will be back for the Jaguars, and that could pose a mismatch for the Colts linebackers, who have struggled all year to contain opposing tight ends.
In just two games played this year, Lewis has caught eight passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. He has yet to have another season like he did in 2010, catching 58 passes for 700 yards and 10 touchdowns, but Blake Bortles should look his way more than a few times Sunday.
D'Qwell Jackson and Jerrell Freeman haven't been able to stop opposing tight ends. According to Football Outsiders, the Colts rank 27th in the league in covering opposing tight ends. While the Colts have more talent on both sides of the ball, a big game from Lewis could make this contest closer than they would like.
Colts' X-Factor of the Week: Dan Herron
I fully expect the Colts to give Richardson the majority of carries on Sunday, but this should be the game where Dan Herron finally gets a chance to prove himself.
Herron has only carried the ball 22 times this year for 74 yards, but he's shown the aggressiveness and acceleration that a running back needs, possibly learning how to run like that from Bradshaw. He'll need to replace Bradshaw as the team's more violent runner for the remainder of the season, and this is a good game to try and get some warm-up reps.
Don't look for Herron to get 10-plus carries, but expect him to break off at least one or two nice runs to keep the Colts moving on offense.
Prediction
5 of 5
The Colts will head into Sunday angry about last week's loss, and that's bad news for a Jaguars team that's only been able to beat the Browns this season.
Quite simply, the Jaguars don't have enough talent to match up with the Colts. We learned last week that the Colts aren't quite yet an elite contender in the AFC, but that doesn't mean that they're a bad team. The Colts will still go to the playoffs, and they may even win a game or two before having to take on the Denver Broncos or Patriots.
On the other hand, the Jaguars continue to be a mess at 1-9 this year. They'll be coming off a bye week, capitalizing on some rest as they face arguably their toughest remaining opponent. However, rest can only do so much when you're scoring 15.8 points and allowing 28.2 points per game, ranking 32nd and 31st in the league, respectively.
Hamilton will try to make the offense more balanced than last week, but Luck will continue to air it out and go deep to try and expose Jacksonville's defense. Expect T.Y. Hilton to have a monster game like he did against the Texans earlier in the year, catching a handful of passes 20-plus yards down the field.
Luck and head coach Chuck Pagano have only lost back-to-back games once since they came to Indianapolis. That won't happen again, at least not this week.
Prediction: Colts 35, Jaguars 13
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
