Jaguars vs. Colts: Week 6 Halftime Thoughts

What did we see during the first half of Jaguars vs. Colts?

The Jacksonville Jaguars will go into halftime with a 21-6 lead over the Indianapolis Colts in their critical Week 6 AFC South battle, but what all did we see in the first half? 

Minshew is looking a lot like Matt Ryan from a year ago

This is the second year in a row the Jaguars have played the Colts in Week 6. The first was a 34-27 loss last year, a game where Matt Ryan surgically took apart the Jaguars' underneath defense as he dinked and dunked them to death. Ryan and the Colts neutralized the Jaguars' pass-rush, and overall their defense as a whole, by delivering passes as soon as he received the snap. That is exactly what the Jaguars are seeing in Minshew today ... except much more mistake-prone. 

Minshew completed his first nine passes, but none went over 10 yards in the air. He hit every underneath window he possibly could and got the ball out of his hands at a lightning-quick rate. The Jaguars and Mike Caldwell's defense have shown they are susceptible to this kind of offense in the past. Sunday looked different because the Jaguars were able to take advantage on offense and in their few pass-rushing situations, forcing Minshew into a strip-sack, an interception, and nearly two other picks. 

Josh Allen deserves to be paid yesterday

It is hard to imagine what the Jaguars' defense would look like without Josh Allen. Allen now has 70% of the Jaguars' 2023 sack total and has already matched his sack total from his 17-game season in 2022. He is also sixth among all EDGEs in pressures since 2022, which shows that he has done more than just rack up lucky sacks this year. 

Without Allen's sack, the game is still 7-3 at one point and the Colts would have been comfortable in running the same dink-and-dunk offense they ran on the first series of the game. But thanks to Allen's sack, which helped the Jaguars jump out to a 14-3 lead, the Jaguars forced the Colts into a different style of ball-game -- one they are not equipped for with Minshew under center. 

Jaguars are doing what they are supposed to do 

There have been far too many instances in the last two seasons of the Jaguars letting inferior teams hang around with them. The Houston Texans in Week 3 are the most recent example, but they are far from the only one in the Pederson era. On Sunday, though, the Jaguars finally did what good teams are expected to do every week: dominate. 

The Jaguars have the better roster, more experience from top to bottom, and clearly the superior quarterback. This has been the case before, and the Jaguars fumbled their chances. This time, though, the Jaguars have left no doubt. The Jaguars have grown up in a big way over the last three weeks, with this being one of the best examples yet.