INDIANAPOLIS — The Jaguars continued their dominance over the Colts at home with a 37-20 win in Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon. Jacksonville took sole possession of first place in the AFC South with the victory.
The Colts have now lost nine straight games as the road team against the Jaguars. The 2016 game was at Wembley Stadium in London as part of the NFL’s International Series.
Gardner Minshew, filling in for injured rookie Anthony Richardson, started strong, engineering a 16-play, 65-yard scoring drive on the Colts’ first possession. Kicker Matt Gay made a 28-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead.
Jacksonville answered with a 13-play, 75-yard drive of its own, capped off by a 2-yard Travis Etienne touchdown run to go ahead, 7-3.
Next possession, Minshew committed his first turnover with the Colts when pass rusher Josh Allen came around the edge for a strip-sack. The Jaguars recovered the ball at the Indianapolis 22-yard line. They turned the takeaway into a touchdown the next play on an Etienne direct snap touchdown run.
The Colts appeared to be on the move late in the first half. Minshew connected with Jonathan Taylor for a 40-yard gain — his most explosive play since returning from an ankle injury. The drive stalled when Andrew Cisco intercepted Minshew shortly after Taylor’s big gain.
The Jaguars turned that takeaway into points as well as quarterback Trevor Lawrence found wideout Christian Kirk for a 29-yard touchdown pass to go on top, 21-3.
The Colts were able to cut the deficit to 21-6 on a Gay 56-yard field goal to end the half.
The defense forced a three-and-out on Jacksonville’s first possession of the second half, but Minshew gave it right back with an interception to Rayshawn Jenkins. Brandon McManus kicked a 48-yard field goal to make it 24-6 in favor of Jacksonville.
Lawrence then hit tight end Brenton Strange for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Jaguars plenty of cushion at 31-6.
The Colts scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable.
Minshew connected with receiver Josh Downs for a 2-yard score for the rookie’s first career touchdown. Then, after Warren Central product JuJu Brents’ first career interception, running back Zack Moss scored from three yards.
Sunday was Minshew’s first start after the Colts placed Richardson on the injured reserve list with a sprained AC joint suffered last week against Tennessee. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the team is strongly considering season-ending surgery for Richardson.
Minshew finished 33-of-55 for 329 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He also fumbled once.
The Colts return home next week to host Cleveland at 1:00 p.m. on FOX59’s broadcast partner, CBS4.
