Colts trail Jaguars 17-6 at halftime after ugly first half

At halftime, the Indianapolis Colts trail the Jacksonville Jaguars 17-6 in London in what has been an incredibly sloppy and ugly game for Indianapolis.

The offense couldn’t seem to protect Andrew Luck at all in the first half, as he was sacked three times and hit five times. Rookies Ryan Kelly (center), Austin Blythe (right guard), and Joe Haeg (right tackle) made things more complicated for the line, but Anthony Castonzo (left tackle) was beat pretty handily multiple times in the first half. Furthermore, the receivers weren’t helping Luck out, as there were five dropped passes in the first half (Josh Ferguson, Dwayne Allen, Frank Gore, Chester Rogers, and Phillip Dorsett). And while most of the game was a shining example of how Luck doesn’t have any help, he even missed Chester Rogers running wide open downfield for a would-be touchdown.

The defense, likewise, was bad. The Jaguars entered this matchup averaging 18 points per game, and they scored 17 in the first half. The last possession of the first half in particular was bad, as the defense basically gifted the Jaguars three free points (it likely would have been seven if not for the clock). T.J. Green had a really stupid shove out of bounds and Antonio Cromartie had pass interference and holding penalties.

When it comes to the good news, Adam Vinatieri continued to be automatic by hitting both of his field goal attempts in the first half, from 53 yards and 49 yards out. He’s now made 33 in a row, and he’s producing at a consistently elite level even though others on the team aren’t.

The Colts face another double-digit halftime deficit in this one, and they’ll need to play much, much better in the second half to avoid a really long flight home from London tonight.