Here are three things to know about in the Jaguars vs. Colts Week 17 game, plus a prediction.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the road in Week 17, this time taking on the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC South matchup.
The Jaguars could potentially clinch the division title this week with a win and a Houston loss. Jacksonville also remains in the mix for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
Continuing on with our look ahead to Sunday’s game with the Colts, here are three things to know, plus a prediction.
The importance of post-snap movement against Phillip Rivers
In the Colts’ Monday Night game against San Francisco, Phillip Rivers was excellent pre-snap. His experience and ability to diagnose what he was seeing on the fly allowed him to make adjustments and get the Colts’ offense into advantageous looks.
To leverage this ability, the Colts used a fair amount of no-huddle to get to the line of scrimmage quickly and to prevent the defense from subbing players in and out.
The Jacksonville defense under Anthony Campanile does a very good job of throwing different looks at quarterbacks, but a key aspect of that, particularly this week, will be late movement by the Jaguars defense. What Rivers sees before the ball is snapped can’t be the same as what he sees when he’s at the top of his drop — or he will find success.
The Jaguars running game
More often than not over the last several games, it has been tough sledding in the run game for the Jaguars. After some down weeks, the Jaguars now rank 26th in yards per rush this season.
As Liam Coen put it recently, there is still meat on the bone when it comes to the run game.
Trevor Lawrence and the passing game have shouldered the workload, and as productive as the offense has still been during this stretch, there could be another level if the Jaguars can pair an efficient running game with Lawrence’s current level of play.
In that scenario, for opposing defenses, what do you choose to stop?
The Colts will be without defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in the middle, but this unit has still held up well against the run for much of the year. The Jaguars will be navigating more movement along their offensive line as they work through injuries.
Indianapolis Colts’ injury report
As mentioned, the Colts will be without Buckner, who will be placed on injured reserve. Indianapolis is getting cornerback Sauce Gardner back, however, which could mean a heavier dose of man coverage looks from this secondary.
Center Tanor Bortolini will be out, while the Colts are expecting left tackle Bernhard Raimann to return after missing last week’s game.
Here is the rest of the Colts’ Week 17 injury report:
WR Ashton Dulin – QuestionableRB Tyler Goodson – QuestionableWR Anthony Gould – OutLB Buddy Johnson – QuestionableTE Drew Ogletree – OutQB Anthony Richardson – OutS Daniel Scott – OutOL Dalton Tucker – QuestionableJaguars vs. Colts prediction
Here is why NFL.com’s Dan Parr is picking the Jaguars:
“There’s a path to victory for Indianapolis, especially if it turns long, methodical drives into touchdowns and forces Trevor Lawrence into a mistake or two … or three,” wrote Parr. “I’m just not going to predict that scenario will play out, with the QB playing squeaky-clean ball of late and Jacksonville closing in on a division title. The Colts — once an 8-2 team that seemed destined for the postseason — need a win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive, but I’m afraid the road for them ends here.”