Five facts about Jaguars vs. Colts all-time series
The Colts and Jaguars play in Jacksonville with first place in the AFC South on the line. Here are five things to know about this series.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts were placed in the same division, the AFC South, during the NFL’s 2002 realignment.The Jaguars have a current 10-game home winning streak against the Colts, with the last loss in Jacksonville occurring in 2014.The Colts lead the all-time series against the Jaguars with a record of 28-20.
The Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4) play the Indianapolis Colts (8-4) twice in December in what likely will determine who wins the AFC South championship.
The first meeting, Dec. 7, will be in Jacksonville. They will play again three weeks later, on Dec. 28, in Indianapolis.
These also will mark the 49th and 50th times the teams will play each other.
The only franchise the Jaguars have played more games against is the Tennessee Titans. They’ve played 61 times in the regular season (62 counting playoffs), with one more meeting in Week 18.
The Jaguars currently hold the tiebreaker over the Colts while holding the lead in the AFC South, with the hard-charing Houston Texans one game back.
Here are some things to know about the Jaguars-Colts rivalry.
The Jaguars and Colts weren’t always in the same division
When the Jaguars entered the league in 1995 along with the Carolina Panthers, it brought the total of NFL teams from 28 to 30.
The Jaguars were placed in the AFC Central, along with the Steelers, Bengals, Browns (now the Ravens) and the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans).
The Colts were in the AFC East, with the Bills, Dolphins, Patriots and Jets.
In 1999, when the new Browns joined the NFL, they were placed in the AFC Central with the Jags, bringing the league total to 31 teams.
When it was announced Houston would get a new team — the Texans — the NFL re-aligned in 2002, now with 32 teams.
When this realignment occurred, the Colts and Jaguars were placed in the same division — the AFC South — along with the Texans and Titans.
This is how the league still stands.
The Jaguars and Colts didn’t play much prior to 2002
In six seasons prior to realignment, the Colts and Jaguars only met twice.
They played during the Jaguars’ inaugural season of 1995 — Dec. 10 to be exact — with the Colts winning a shootout 41-31 in Jacksonville.
You probably know Mark Brunell was the Jags’ quarterback, but if you knew QB Craig Erickson stewarded the Colts to victory that day, kudos to you.
The two teams didn’t play again until Sept. 25, 2000, with the Colts rolling 43-13.
A young Peyton Manning had a stellar performance, throwing for 440 yards and four touchdowns.
Realignment arrives for Jaguars, Colts
When the Jaguars and Colts played for a third time, on Sept. 8, 2002, they met for the first time as AFC South rivals. Peyton Manning didn’t quite have as big a day as in 2000, but his 211 yards and three touchdowns were good enough to lead his team to a 28-25 win.
In all, the Jaguars lost their first five games to the Colts.
Jacksonville finally got over the hump on Nov. 9, 2003, with a 28-23 victory. Fred Taylor was the hero in this game, rushing for 152 yards and two touchdowns.
Peyton Manning owned the Jaguars
The Jaguars faced Manning 20 times, 19 of those as Colts quarterback.
Manning was 15-5 against the Jaguars, going 14-5 as a Colt while winning his one and only game against them with the Denver Broncos in 2013.
All totaled, Manning had 5,538 yards against the Jaguars, 40 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His completion percentage was 64.0.
The 440 yards he had in his first-ever meeting against the Jags was his record in the series. It’s the only time he had more than 400 yards against Jacksonville.
He threw four touchdowns in a game against Jacksonville three times. He only threw two interceptions against the Jaguars twice.
An unlikely hero lifted the Jaguars to multiple victories
Josh Scobee didn’t necessarily have a great field goal percentage against the Colts, but he made it when it counted.
Scobee was 35-for-45 on field goals against the Colts, good for a 78 percent conversion rate.
Among those 35 makes were three memorable kicks:
Scobee kicked a 53-yarder with 38 seconds to go to win it 27-24 on Oct. 24, 2004. That was the Jags’ first ever win in Indy.Scobee made a 51-yarder with 4 seconds left to beat the Colts in Indy 23-21 on Sept. 21, 2008.And in Jacksonville, his most famous kick, he nailed a 59-yarder at the buzzer to beat the Colts 31-28 on Oct. 3, 2010.
That’s three game-winning kicks against one team.
Kickers have always played a big role in this rivalry, including in the last two games in the series.
In their first meeting last year, on Oct. 6, 2024, Cam Little kicked a 49-yard field goal with 17 seconds to play to lift the Jaguars past the Colts 37-34.
Then, on Jan. 5, 2025, Colts kicker Matt Gay nailed a 38-yarder in overtime to send Indianapolis past Jacksonville 26-23 in overtime.
The friendly confines of EverBank Stadium
The Jaguars currently have an impressive home winning streak against the Colts.
You have to go all the way back to 2014 to find the last time the Jaguars lost to the Colts in Jacksonville.
The Andrew Luck-led Colts defeated the Jaguars 23-3 on Nov. 23, 2014 in Jacksonville.
Since then, the Jaguars have won 10 consecutive games at home.
When the win streak started in 2015, it was against a Matt Hasselbeck-led team. Other starting QBs they’ve knocked off during the home win streak include Andrew Luck (2016, 2018), Jacoby Brissett (2017, 2019), Phillip Rivers (2020), Carson Wentz (2021), Matt Ryan (2022), Gardner Minshew (2023) and Joe Flacco (2024).
If they want to keep the streak alive, they’ll have to knock off the resurgent Daniel Jones on Dec. 7.
Other numbers of note
The Colts lead the all-time series 28-20.
The teams have never met in the playoffs.
The most points the Jaguars had in a single game was 51 in 2015. They won 51-16 in Jacksonville.
The most points the Colts had in a single game was 44 in 2014. They won 44-17 in Jacksonville.
The longest winning streak the Jaguars have had against the Colts in three (done twice).
The Colts’ longest winning streak is six.
The Jaguars have shut out the Colts three times (2017, 2018 and 2022). The Colts have never shut out the Jaguars.
According to profootballreference.com, 51 players have played for both the Jaguars and Colts. Some of the higher profile players include Andre Rison, Mike Peterson and Yannick Ngakoue.
A look at the Dec. 7 game in Jacksonville
The Colts and Jaguars both are the surprise teams this season, coming into this game with 8-4 records.
They won 7 of their first 8 games behind the aforementioned “Indiana” Jones, who took the starting job from Anthony Richardson prior to the season. They’ve cooled off in recent weeks, losing three of their last four.
Through 12 games, Jones has thrown for 3,041 yards and 19 touchdowns to seven interceptions. HE’s also rushed for five touchdowns.
But as good as Jones has been, Jonathan Taylor has been better. Taylor is leading the league with 1,282 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. He also has two receiving touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars started 4-1 but hit some bumps in the road prior to their bye week, losing to the Seahawks and Rams. Since their break, they’ve gone 4-1.
The Colts have not won the AFC South since 2014.
The Jaguars have won it twice in that span, in 2017 and 2022.
The Colts have won a total of nine AFC South titles while the Jaguars own just the two mentioned above.
The Jaguars finished AFC South runner-up to the Colts four times, in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010.
It’s been quite some time since the Jaguars and Colts were the top two teams vying for the AFC South crown.
The first chapter of this year’s story will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.