Jaguars defense had no answer for Matt Ryan and Colts’ plan of getting ball out quickly
The Jacksonville Jaguars defense kept the team in the game two weeks ago against Houston, but the offense never got on track.
The reverse happened in Sunday’s 34-27 loss at Indianapolis as the Jaguars' (2-4) defense couldn’t make a single stop on the Colts’ final five possession of the game, including touchdown drives of 61, 51 and 66 yards on their final three possessions.
A different test will face the defense at TIAA Bank Field on Sunday against the New York Giants (1 p.m., FOX). Running back Saquon Barkley is second in the NFL with 616 rushing yards and quarterback Daniel Jones, in his fourth season, apparently has cast aside his turnover-prone days and has only two interceptions.
The Giants are 5-1 after rallying to beat Baltimore 24-20 on Sunday but have won all five of their games by eight points or less, with an average margin of 4.2 points.
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The game-winning play for the Colts capsulized the Jags’ frustrations: needing a stop on third-and-13 to force Chase McLaughlin to attempt a field goal of 50 yards. Colts receiver Alec Pierce responded to Jaguars cornerback Shaquille Griffin playing him as if he was going to run a pattern at the first-down marker, and then took off for the end zone just as tackle DaVon Hamilton was bearing down on Ryan.
Ryan said after the game that Pierce was told to go deep if he beat Griffin off the ball, or run a slant if he didn’t.
Colts center Ryan Kelly told a colts.com reporter after the game that Ryan said in the huddle — after players asked if they were going to get conservative and run a play designed to get a shorter field-goal attempt — “(bleep)ing score.”
It was Ryan’s 58th attempt and 42nd completion of the game, a record number of passes for a Jaguars’ opposing quarterback in team history, and one off the record for most completions (43 on Nov. 18, 2012, by Houston’s Matt Schaub).
It also was the sixth third-down conversion in six attempts in the second half for the Colts.
"We couldn't get them off the field," Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Monday.
Ryan threw for 389 yards, cracking the top 10 against the Jags by an opposing quarterback. The Colts’ 434 total yards were the most the Jags’ defense had allowed in a divisional game since the Texans had 449 in the opening game of the 2021 season, their 29 first downs were the most since New England had 32 in week 17 last year and the .667 third-down conversion rate (10 of 15) was the best since the Patriots converted .800 last season.
Pederson said he won’t be issuing any particular marching orders to coordinator Mike Caldwell or defensive players this week to prepare for the Giants.
They know what needs to be done.
“I still take the fall for the whole thing because I’m responsible for the team,” Pederson said. “You have conversations with coordinators each week and then I have conversations with the team and … everybody needs to know the importance of each game. Each game has its own entity. There are still things that are showing up in these games that are sort of self-inflicting … all things that we have to eliminate, we have to correct and I’m a big part of that, with the coordinators and the team.”
Among the self-inflicted wounds: crucial pass interference penalties on Griffin on two TD drives, one which converted a third-and-eight play, and rookie outside linebacker Travon Walker’s roughing the passer penalty on third-and-12, keeping a TD drive alive.
The Jags also had their first game of the season with no turnovers and no sacks. The latter was mainly because the Colts’ game plan was to get the ball out of Ryan’s hands as soon as possible, and the Colts all but abandoned the run (they had 45 yards on the ground) with the loss of Jonathan Taylor to an ankle injury.
Pederson said the Colts’ game plan was actually one that respected the Jaguars’ pass rush. But the defense still didn’t have an answer.
The Jags hit Ryan six times and knocked down seven passes. According to Pro Football Focus, the Jags had 20 pressures.
But Ryan is a veteran who not only has a knack of getting rid of the ball under pressure but in the vicinity of a receiver to go get it.
”It’s just a great sense he has, and some of the great quarterbacks have that,” Pederson said. “They have great vision … he’s a tall guy too so he has great vision down the field. With our guys barreling down on him … it was pretty impressive. It comes from a lot of game experience and seeing a lot of different things.”
Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun said the defense needs to get used to it and keep finding ways to get to the quarterback.
”I definitely expect to see tempo at some point in the game going forward,” he said. “We’ll have a game plan. For it. Whether I have a certain set of calls or in different formations or different personnel … I’m sure we’ll be able to rattle off some pressures. Just be on the same page and get that communication out quickly.”
Agnew status unsettled
Jaguars wide receiver/returner Jamal Agnew will be day-to-day this week after suffering what Pederson called a “strain” of his knee.
Agnew caught one pass for 5 yards and had one burst after taking a reverse flip from quarterback Trevor Lawrence that went for 19 yards to the 1-yard line, setting up Lawrence’s first TD run. Agnew returned one kickoff for 23 yards and a punt for 8 yards.
Tim Jones got 27 snaps in Agnew’s place on offense and had one big play, a 20-yard reception in the third quarter one play before Lawrence scored from 2 yards out to give the Jaguars a 21-13 lead.
Chris Claybrooks replaced Agnew on returns and had three kickoff returns for 55 yards.
Titans to poach Thompson
NFL.com's Ian Rapoport has reported that the Tennessee Titans will sign safety Josh Thompson off the Jaguars practice roster.
Thompson, a six-year veteran who played his first five with Houston, was signed by the Jags as a free agent on May 2. He played college football at Texas and had two interceptions, 109 tackles and 5.5 tackles for losses in 45 games and 22 starts for the Texans.
Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars defense starts regrouping process this week with Giants visiting
