Colts 34, Jaguars 27: Game Balls
Each week during the 2022 season, we will take a quick post-game look at which Jacksonville Jaguars stood out the most.
Win or lose, rain or shine, we will hand out game balls to an offensive, defensive and special teams player.
In this edition, we take a look at the Jaguars' 34-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6 and which players stood out in big ways.
Offense: Travis Etienne
Could it be anyone but Travis Etienne? It felt like the Etienne show from the first snap as he recorded the first start of his career, breaking off a career-long 48-yard carry on the first drive before picking up a 22-yard gain on a screen to set up a score on the next drive. Etienne was a big-play machine all day, helping field position and serving as a critical piece on the Jaguars' final 18-play touchdown drive.
Etienne, who was given our game ball last week as well, had his second straight game with 100 yards from scrimmage: 86 yards on 10 carries and 22 yards on two catches. Even with Etienne becoming a major driving force of the offense on Sunday, it still kind of felt like they could have used him even more? Either way, it was an elite showing from the second-year back.
Defense: Tyson Campbell
This one is tough to hand out. The defense had its worst game of the season, not sacking Matt Ryan a single time despite him dropping back nearly 60 times, nor creating a turnover in any of those plays for the second game in a row. Despite playing an immobile quarterback behind a bad line, the Jaguars couldn't get home or force Ryan into mistakes, making no game-changing plays.
With that said, someone has to get the nod. This week, it is cornerback Tyson Campbell. With Shaquill Griffin being completely picked on by Frank Reich and Matt Ryan, Campbell was able to step up his own game. He led the team with three pass breakups and also forced a fumble, which was just narrowly recovered by the Colts. On a day of bad defense, Campbell didn't do anything to earn much criticism.
Special teams: Jamal Agnew
Jamal Agnew doesn't get the special teams game ball this week because he did anything extraordinary. He returned one punt for eight yards and one kickoff for 23 yards, so it was a pretty pedestrian day.
The difference is what happened when Agnew was off the field. Agnew didn't play for most of the second half due to a knee injury, leading to Chris Claybrooks stepping in at returner. Claybrooks went on to average 18.3 yards over three returns, twice not even getting to the 20-yard line. Without Agnew returning, the special teams group became a minor red flag.
