The Good, the Bad and the Ugly From the Jaguars' Week 6 Loss to the Colts
Week 6 was an ... odd one for the Jaguars.
After a Week 5 where they failed to score a single touchdown, the Jaguars found the end-zone four times on Sunday. Trevor Lawrence threw just two incompletions all day and scored three times. The running game was explosive, racking up 243 rushing yards and two runs of 45+ yards.
But, they still lost. In a game where the Jaguars badly needed to find a win to get their 2022 back on track, the Jaguars fell 34-27 to the Indianapolis Colts, once again beating themselves.
So, what stood out on Sunday in a good way, what was simply bad, and what was downright concerning for the future? We break it down below.
The Good
Travis Etienne was absolutely electric for the Jaguars on Sunday. On his 12 touches, three of them went for 20 yards or more, giving him three of the Jaguars' four longest plays of the game. Etienne looked like a star from the first drive and continued his dominance even into the second-half when it looked like he nearly scored his first NFL touchdown.
“I don’t think it’s better than we had hoped, I think it’s exactly what we had expected with him, what he’s kind of shown us this season," Doug Pederson said on Monday. "You can see it. He’s got speed to get around the edge, he’s tough, physical, powerful, between the tackles, just somebody you try to continue to find ways to get the ball to.”
The Jaguars also had -- at last -- a safe day from the quarterback position. Trevor Lawrence had zero turnover-worthy plays according to Pro Football Focus, his first game this year without a single play where he put the ball in harm's way. After seven turnovers over the last two weeks, it was a good sign to see Lawrence play smart, safe and efficient football.
The Bad
There is only one other game in Trevor Lawrence's career where he was sacked four times, showing just how much the Colts got after him on some pivotal downs on Sunday. Lawrence was sacked four times in the first half on Sunday, including twice on pivotal third-downs. Had Lawrence not tried to spin out of the pocket on his first sack, he wouldn't have lost 15 yards and force the Jaguars out of field goal range.
Then there was the lack of smart situational plays. The Jaguars had two different third-downs where they stopped the Colts but kept the offense on the field due to penalties: one pass interference on Shaquill Griffin and one roughing the passer on Travon Walker. Each came on a touchdown drive that the Jaguars should have been able to limit to, at most, a field goal.
The Ugly
The most concerning thing about the Jaguars' defense on Sunday was the lack of adjustments from the unit. The Colts made it clear on the first drive of the game what their plan was: go up-tempo and dink-and-dunk the Jaguars' defense to death to neutralize their pass-rush. It worked in a big way, obviously, but it never seemed like the Jaguars had answers for the Colts doing the same thing over and over again.
"I think we knew the plays that we were in, I don’t think we knew that they were going to hit crossing routes the whole game. Obviously, when they started doing it the whole game, there’s adjustments that we should’ve had," linebacker Foyesade Oluokun said.
"Maybe just in whatever coverage it was to come back with it. I know I missed one, must’ve been the third quarter. Whatever coverage you’re in, they show us a specific formation, especially when they’re doing hurry-up, they only have so many plays that they can do. When we see that formation again, expecting the same routes, they kind of just drained us out their front side. I don’t even know if they were running real routes, expecting either the low or the high crosser, just match with it. That’s something we see on film, and we know we can adjust to now, but it’s a learning thing.”
Finally, there was Griffin. Griffin had his worst game as a Jaguar, allowing nine catches for 108 yards and the game-winning touchdown and also being called for pass interference twice. Griffin made a couple of nice plays in coverage and tackles near the line of scrimmage as well, but his bad plays outweighed the good.
