Three Huge Keys for New York Jets to Defeat Indianapolis Colts

Here are three keys to success for the New York Jets as they prepare to face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Oct 27, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New York Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich watches from the sideline as they take on the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

A week ago the New York Jets had lost five of their last six games but had some level of hope about a potential run to the playoffs.

Entering Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts, New York has now lost six of its last seven and even its own coach, Jeff Ulbrich, has said the Jets (3-7) don’t need to be thinking about the playoffs.

New York enters the final seven games of its schedule and must basically win every game in order to have a chance at the postseason. Last week will be remembered not just for losing to the Cardinals, but for squandering an opportunity in which every scenario the Jets needed to come to pass to improve their playoff position came to pass.

Meanwhile, the Colts (4-6) have faint playoff hopes, but they're coming off a debilitating loss to the Buffalo Bills. Indianapolis pressed pause on the development of its young quarterback, Anthony Richardson, put trust in a former Jets veteran to run the offense and then did an about face.

So how do the Jets beat the Colts? Here are three keys to making it happen.

Go Get Anthony

Up until Wednesday, Colts coach Shane Steichen was committed to 39-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco. Well, on Wednesday, for whatever reason, he changed his mind.

Richardson, the second-round pick from a season ago, is now the starter again. That means the Jets need to dust off his film from a few weeks ago and get ready for a quarterback that has more Kyler Murray in him than, say, Flacco or the Jets' Aaron Rodgers.

Richardson was benched because he was completing 44% of his passes and had more interceptions (seven) than touchdowns (four). Has anything changed? The Jets need to make Richardson's life difficult early and often and force him into the mistakes that led to his benching.

Commit to the Run

Perhaps the most perplexing part of new Jets play caller Todd Downing is a lack of desire to establish a running game. Against Arizona, Breece Hall ran the football just 10 times but gained 52 yards for 5.2 yards per carry. That’s the criminal part — Hall was getting the job done.

Even when the games are close, Downing seems to value putting the ball in Rodgers’ hands more than Hall.

New York is not using Hall and his running mate, Braelon Allen, enough out of the backfield. The Colts gave the Jets a great opportunity to flip to that script.

Fix The Tackling

Let's be clear — tackling isn't something that can be fixed in one week. It can be emphasized and re-emphasized until coaches are blue in the face.

The Jets missed 20 tackles against Arizona, the second time this season New York defenders have missed 20 tackles in a game. So this isn’t a one-off. The Jets have a tackling problem that should been solved before the season.

To bring down players like Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, the defense has to be sure-handed. The Jets were awful at that against Arizona. If New York hopes to beat Indianapolis, it  must tackle better.

The only way to quantify that is by how many missed tackles the Jets have at the end of the game. One thing is for certain — the Jets can't have 20 missed tackles again.