Jaguars vs. Colts: Halftime Thoughts

What are our thoughts on the Jaguars vs. Colts Week 1 bout at halftime?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are going into halftime with a 14-7 lad over the Indianapolis Colts thanks to touchdowns from Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones, but there is still a lot of football left to be played. 

So, what did we see in the first two quarters of the game? We break it down below.

Jaguars suffering from self-inflicted wounds

The Jaguars should be up by considerably more, but they have gotten into their own way on both sides of the ball. Devin Lloyd and Andre Cisco both got caught out of positions on pivotal plays on the Colts' touchdown drive, while Tank Bigsby's drop on the first snap of his career led to a Colts interception. Add in a fumble from Calvin Ridley that was just barely kept out of the Colts' reach, and things were a bit sloppy for the Jaguars. 

Going with three Bigsby carries after a huge defensive stop was maybe the most glaring issue, though. Bigsby got stuffed for a loss on 3rd-and-4, but the Jaguars never should have been throwing the ball.

With that said, the Jaguars can take solace in the fact that Trevor Lawrence looked efficient, completing 13-of-16 passes for 150 yards -- and one of his picks came on a drop by his target. The Jaguars also started 2-of-3 on third-down before the ill-advised Bigsby carry. There were signs of the strong offense everyone envisioned, but it didn't come together in the first-half.

Defense makes the biggest play of the game on 4th down stop 

Credit needs to go to the defense for stopping the bleeding and Colts momentum after the Bigsby interception. The Jaguars had terrible ball security on two consecutive plays fresh off a Colts touchdown, so the Colts should have been rolling. But stuffing Anthony Richardson on 4th-and-1 managed to get the Jaguars off the field, not only keeping the Colts from picking up points but also stifling their momentum. 

It wasn't all good for the defense, obviously. They gave up several explosive catches on the Colts' touchdown drive. But considering the defense was deemed to be the weak link of the team, they deserve to talk their stuff right now -- they are the only reason this game is as close as it is, in large part due to their first fourth-down stuff.

The key to the second-half is to continue to lean on Calvin Ridley

Doug Pederson turning over play-calling duties -- at least semantically -- to offensive coordinator Press Taylor isn't likely to be a fan-favorite decision after the first half. The Jaguars had two three-and-outs in the first four possessions, with the first drive of the game looking uninspired and the fourth drive of the game featuring the failed Bigsby runs. 

There is a way to easily alleviate that in the second half, though. And that is to lean on Calvin Ridley. Ridley completely overwhelmed the Colts' defense in the first half, dominating after the catch, consistently getting open at all levels of the field, and catching seven passes for 92 yard and a touchdown. Keep feeding Ridley in the second-half and the Jaguars' offense shouldn't have many issues.