Stampede Blue
The Indianapolis Colts suffered another consecutive loss in Jacksonville, having not beaten the Jaguars in Duval County since 2014.
Indianapolis handedly lost 36-19 in Jacksonville, but that wasn’t even the primary cause of concern for the Colts’ blues on an exorbitantly rainy day in the ‘Sunshine State.’ Rather, starting quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a potential season-ending Achilles injury with just around 35 seconds left in the first quarter.
Jones was quickly downgraded to out, and the Colts were forced to turn to rookie backup quarterback Riley Leonard to finish this one out in unplanned extended action. Leonard completed 18 of 29 pass attempts for 145 total passing yards, 0 passing touchdowns, and an interception. He also had a rushing touchdown, as well as suffered a safety with around 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter—and this one already well out of hand.
Specifically, with Jones out, this one realistically appeared over after the first quarter—with a rookie quarterback starting for Indianapolis with zero starting experience. There was no real reason to play 3 more quarters, only then that Indianapolis had to for regulation reasons.
Star workhorse Jonathan Taylor had 21 carries for 78 total rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, but failed to eclipse 100 total rushing yards for the third straight game—and the fourth time in the Colts’ last five games.
Rather unsurprisingly, the Colts have in turn, lost all four of those recent games. The Colts seem to go as Taylor does, and right now, opposing defenses have consistently been bottling him up as of late.
Taylor lost a fumble early in the 2nd quarter that led directly to a one-play 28-yard Travis Etienne touchdown run.
Colts wideout Michael Pittman Jr. led the Colts in catches (9), also compiling 79 total receiving yards, while fellow wide receiver Alec Pierce had a team high of 80 total receiving yards to go along with his 5 catches.
Starting linebacker Zaire Franklin led the Colts with 7 tackles, and Indianapolis had zero sacks, which just about explains their day. Outside of a Grover Stewart forced fumble on Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten late in the second quarter, it was a pretty underwhelming showing by the Indianapolis defense collectively.
The Colts defense surrendered 350 total yards, gave up 34 points, and the Jaguars offense was 7 for 15 on third down efficiency—as it felt like Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville offense was largely in control all game.
Having convincingly lost their grip atop the AFC South, surrendering first place to the Jaguars, the Colts still cling to a wild card playoff berth as it stands.
However, given Jones is likely to miss some time—if not presumably, the remainder of Indy’s season—and things are looking pretty bleak for the Horseshoe rather suddenly this holiday season, after such an impressive hot start to the 2025 campaign.
