Colts’ Matchups to Watch Revisited: Week 2 @Jaguars

Colts Vs. Playing in Duval - (L)

I honestly did not believe I would ever watch anything worse than what I saw last season in Duval, but somehow, these guys managed to outdo themselves! This was perhaps the worst team performance I have seen from a Colts’ team in my life, and there are no excuses for such horrendous play. I would honestly boo the hell out of this team if I had the chance to go to LoS next week. For all the talk about how the end of last season hurt them, they did not back that up at all. Key players performing terrible (Braden Smith, Kenny Moore, DeForest Buckner just to call out a few), the highest paid offensive line in the entire NFL crumbling (with everyone healthy), once again making Trevor Lawrence look like an All-Pro quarterback (seriously the dude might have 4 good games in his career, and 2 have come against the Colts), just terrible all around.

Bobby Okereke Vs. Evan Engram - (L)

In the end, it was not Bobby Okereke against Engram as the Jaguars used him a lot in the wideout position. The athletic tight end finished the game with 7 catches for 46 yards, in what was a very productive outing for him. The Colts’ biggest problem was Christian Kirk, but Engram also caused problems for this secondary.

Yannick Ngakoue Vs. Cam Robinson - (L)

Yet another disappointing week for edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who failed to make any sort of consistent impact on the front. This was supposed to be the guy that took the defensive line to the next level, but he has not managed to do so yet. Ngakoue finished the game with just one quarterback hit, and Lawrence was pressured on just 3 (three!) of his 30 passing attempts.

Braden Smith Vs. Josh Allen / Travon Walker (L)

While it was not as bad as it was against the Texans, right tackle Braden Smith still struggled against the Jaguars, a team that seems to always complicate him. Left tackle Matt Pryor suffered the most, allowing Josh Allen to go off for 2 sacks and a tackle for loss, and was in the backfield on seemingly every single play. The Colts’ offensive line has to perform much better, as it has to be among the biggest disappointments in the entire NFL this season so far.

Colts’ WRs Vs. Jaguars’ Secondary - (Massive L)

This was certainly tough to watch. Rewatching the All 22 from the game, the Colts’ receivers got literally no separation in what seemed like every single pass attempt, and when they did, they dropped the passes. Remember Chris Ballard saying “We are happy with the group we have” and “The wide receiver position is overrated”? Yeah those definitely do not seem like very smart declarations today. On Patmon, Ballard said “We have some young players in (Dezmon) Patmon who made the play in Arizona...”, so what you are telling us is because the guy made ONE play on ONE game last season he is now deserving the 5th wide receiver position? Of course, losing MPJ and Pierce hurt, but football is the sport where most injuries happen, and Ballard should have prepared for the eventuality of wide receivers getting hurt. He did not, he was arrogant about it, and now the Colts are paying the price for his clear mistakes.