Colts fall in Jacksonville for the eighth straight time, losing 37-20
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts fell to the Jaguars on Sunday, losing 37-20 at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville.
Indianapolis has not won in Jacksonville since 2014.
The Colts fall to 3-3 on the year, while the Jaguars take sole possession of first place in the AFC South with a 4-2 record.
Things started well for the Horseshoe, getting the ball to start the game and driving 65 yards on 16 plays to set up a Matt Gay 28-yard field goal.
Then, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars went to work with a 10-plus play drive of their own, marching 75 yards for a Travis Etienne 2-yard touchdown.
That would be Etienne’s first of two touchdowns in a 16-second span as Jaguars edge rusher Josh Allen forced a sack-fumble of Colts quarterback Garnder Minshew.
Jacksonville only needed one snap to get back into the end zone, as Etienne went 22 yards for the score.
After trading punts for the next four drives, each team put a score on the board before halftime.
Trevor Lawrence launched a 29-yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk after Colts quarterback Garnder Minshew threw his first interception of the season.
Minshew is starting for the near future as rookie Anthony Richardson was placed on Injured Reserve earlier this week.
Gay drilled a 56-yard field goal to end the half at 21-6.
In the second half, things did not get much better for the Horseshoe.
The Colts defense forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter, but Minshew quickly threw his second interception of the day.
That led to a Brandon McManus field goal on the ensuing drive, and after another Colts three-and-out, Trevor Lawrence had his second touchdown pass of the afternoon.
That extended the Jaguars lead to 25 points near the end of the third quarter.
There was still hope, however, for Minshew and the Colts.
Cue a 12-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in rookie wide receiver Josh Downs’ first career touchdown reception.
Then, Warren Central product JuJu Brents caught his first career interception to give the Colts new life.
Unfortunately, Minshew threw his third interception of the day to effectively end the team’s chances of a comeback.
A Zack Moss garbage time touchdown and a pair of Jacksonville field goals put the final score at 37-20.
The Colts were unable to get any semblance of a run game together behind Jonathan Taylor and Moss, who combined for just 44 yards while Minshew threw the ball 55 times.
“We got ourselves in a hole with the turnovers,” Colts’ head coach Shane Steichen said. “I thought our guys fought hard, we fought until the end but we can’t put ourselves in a hole. Hats off to Jacksonville.”
“At the end of the day, I was careless with the ball,” Quarterback Gardner Minshew said. “I didn’t do a good enough job taking care of it. I put our team in a really bad spot. That’s not fair to the rest of the guys… we are going to keep pushing through and learn from it.”
Box Score
Garnder Minshew went 33/55 for 329 yards and a touchdown, also throwing his first three interceptions of the season and losing his first fumble of the season as well.
Trevor Lawrence went 20/30 for 181 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Jonathan Taylor had 8 carries for 19 rushing yards, adding 5 receptions for 46 yards.
Zack Moss had 7 carries for 21 rushing yards and that three yard touchdown pass, adding 6 catches for 38 receiving yards.
Michael Pittman caught 9 passes for 109 yards.
Rookie WR Josh Downs added 5 receptions for 21 yards and a receiving touchdown.
Next Up
The Colts will host the Cleveland Browns at 1 p.m. next Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars head to New Orleans for Thursday Night Football against the Saints in just four days.
—
For more updates on the Colts all season, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, and on Facebook.