Points of Emphasis: Jaguars vs. Colts

Any time the Colts can win without having their franchise player in the line-up is a great win. Matt Hasselbeck did exactly what we all hoped he would do. He did just enough to win the game and didn't do anything to necessarily lose it. It was also refreshing to see Coby Fleener decide to unleash his long locks and make some big catches. He's steadily improved the last few games so hopefully that can continue even with Dwayne Allen expected to return soon.

Ryan Grigson needs to figure out what in the world is going on with the offensive line. Call me a softy but I'm feeling more and more for Chuck Pagano and the coaching staff as I see game after game of film where the offensive line just isn't talented enough to compete. They have killed drives all season long. Part of this is on the coaching staff for teaching proper techniques but they just look over-matched. It's kind of sad.

As for the Colts big offensive free agent acquisitions, Frank Gore got a lot of flack for dropping a couple "catachable" balls to start the game. I'll say this as a former, albeit not very good, wide receiver, it's hard as heck to be running one direction then have to turn your torso in the opposite direction to catch a ball that is thrown behind you and away from your body. Those drops I place squarely on Hasselbeck. They were bad throws. Should Gore have caught them? Yeah, probably. I mean those gloves allow you to catch about anything if you can get your hands on it but I don't place all the blame on him. Also, what in the world is up with Frank's fumbling fiascoes?!? He gets within the 5 yard line and just gives the ball up. I don't think he had fumbling issues in San Francisco so I'm not sure why there is such a dramatic change here.

Maybe Houston was right in letting Andre Johnson go? Through four games, he's got seven receptions for 51 yards. That's horrendous. This is also in spite of all the good word coming from training camp about how great Johnson looked and how seamless his acclimation with Andrew Luck was going. He's had about three registered targets in the past two games. For a guy brought in to be Reggie Wayne's replacement as a possession type receiver, it's not good. Actually, it's quite bad. Ok, it's terrible. The only saving grace for the Colts is that Donte Moncrief has been an absolute beast when given the chance. Moncrief has certainly picked up the slack but here is hoping Andre can turn it around against his old team.

Again, the defense shows up when they need them most stopping the Jaguars on several occasions inside the 10 yard line. It's as if when opposing teams can't focus on beating the Colts second CB deep, they can't get their offense going. Thankfully, Greg Toler is reportedly coming back this week so Darius Butler can move back into his more natural slot CB position.

I can't say enough about how much better the defensive line seems with Henry Anderson, David Parry and Kendall Langford as starters. All these guys have played fantastic. If this is the future of the Colts defensive front, then I feel great about their direction.

What was Pagano thinking trying to "ice" the kicker at the end of regulation? While I disagree with the practice, I understand the concept. However, I don't understand why you don't call the timeout before the kicker gets a practice shot to get a better idea of the distance and wind. Just think of the outrage of fans if the Jacksonville kicker makes that second kick? Wow... It would have been crazy. Thankfully, the kicker choked but I just don't like the icing practice in general. Seems too NAIA to me.

Let's be real here. The Colts should have lost this game. They should have lost it twice, at the very least. However, the old adage still holds true. Good teams find ways to win games and bad teams find ways to lose them. In this case, Jacksonville found a way to lose this one. They got called for three penalties on three consecutive 3rd downs during the Colts only touchdown drive, resulting in Colts three first downs, and obviously missed those two game winning kicks. I'm glad the Jaguars lost this one but the Colts can't keep relying on bad teams losing games to get their wins.