JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It was over, then it wasn't, then a game that had everything except defense decidedly was, in fact, over. The Colts entered the day on Sunday having lost its past nine games taking place in Jacksonville. The team was also without starting quarterback Anthony Richardson (oblique) and Jonathan Taylor (ankle) in this game.
The Colts started the contest hot with a 12-play, 71-yard opening drive — a drive that was led surgically by Joe Flacco and was capped off by a one-yard touchdown to Michael Pittman Jr. on fourth and goal. Flacco was seven-for-seven on that drive for 75 yards. In fact, Flacco completed his first nine pass attempts of the game as the Colts took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter.
After the Jaguars' Cam Little (remember that name) hit a 23-yard field goal, the Jaguars capitalized on its first big play of the day. Trevor Lawrence hit the speedy and emerging rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. for an 85-yard touchdown to give Jacksonville a 10-7 lead in the second quarter. Matt Gay later nailed a 30-yard field goal to tie this game up at 10 apiece.
Jaylon Jones forced a Jaguars fumble that the Colts' Chris Lammons recovered. Indy, though, gave the football right back to Jacksonville just three plays later as Flacco coughed it up after a sack. The Jags capitalized and took a 13-10 lead into the locker room after Little put a 30-yard field goal through the uprights.
The second half brought all the action at EverBank Stadium Sunday afternoon. Tank Bigsby ran all over the Colts, and gave the Jags a 20-10, two-score lead with a touchdown run in the third quarter. That lead would take this game to a high-scoring final frame.
The Colts responded on the first play of the fourth quarter. Flacco hit Mo Alie-Cox on a crucial third and 15 for an 18-yard touchdown to pull the Colts within three points. It marked Alie-Cox's first touchdown of the season.
Trevor Lawrence marched the Jaguars down the field and countered with a four-yard touchdown pass to Brenton Strange to push Jacksonville's lead back to 10 with 10 minutes to play in the game.
Back and forth these two teams went as theses offenses began to really flex their muscle. After Matt Gay hit a 37-yard field goal to make this a one score game, Jacksonville delivered what seemed to be the knockout blow. Tank Bigsby ran over and through several Colts defenders enroute to a 65-yard touchdown to give the Jaguars a 34-20 lead with five minutes to play in the game.
The Colts then proceeded to score 14 points in just two minutes of game time. The first, a three-play 70-yard drive that totaled just 42 seconds and included a 46-yard connection between Flacco and Alec Pierce. Trey Sermon capped it off with a one-yard touchdown run. The second, a two-play drive driven home by a 65-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Pierce taking just 45 seconds off the clock. In the blink of an eye, this game was tied.
"[Alec Pierce] has a huge, big vertical jump. We throw a little route right there right before he caught the go ball to get down to the one-yard line. Obviously, that catch he made, that vertical jump to get it and catch that ball was huge. So he's doing a hell of a job for us," Colts head coach Shane Steichen remarked of Alec Pierce.
As soon as hope crept back in for Colts fans, it was dashed. The Jaguars responded quickly yet methodically as they began their final drive with 2:40 on the clock. After some crucial conversions, Cam Little delivered the ultimate punch. The 49-yard field goal try went through the uprights with 17 seconds to play, Flacco was sacked as time ran out, and the Jaguars escaped with a 37-34 victory, marking the Colts 10th consecutive loss in Jacksonville.
"It came down to really explosive plays. We had some on offense. Obviously, they had some too. It was a back-and-forth shootout game. At the end obviously we gotta make the plays where we need to make them," Steichen said postgame.
"Obviously it was one of those games that ends up being kind of like you want the ball last, but, hey, Shane (Steichen) said it to us in the locker room after the game, like, this is the NFL. You're going to play games like this and you got to be able to dig deep and try to find a way to win," Flacco said.
Flacco finished the game 33-for-44 passing the football for 359 yards and three touchdowns. Alec Pierce led the Colts with 134 receiving yards on just three receptions including a touchdown. Josh Downs finished with 69 yards on nine receptions.
"[Flacco] did great. Obviously, he came out and operated at a high level and made the big plays, especially at the end, two-play drive obviously to get in there and another two-play drive to bang right back in there to get us tied up there," Steichen remarked of Flacco's performance.
"Joe did a remarkable job just keeping us in it and keeping us fighting," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "And Alec Pierce – can't say enough about Alec Pierce and the job he's doing this season. The defense has to do our part. We didn't do our part today and that's the moral of the story."
The Colts gave up 497 yards of total offense to the Jaguars. Trevor Lawrence was 28-for-34 for 371 yards that included two touchdowns and one interception to Colts' safety Nick Cross. Tank Bigsby ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, Brian Thomas Jr. totaled 122 yards on five receptions including a touchdown.
"We just have to lock in and focus," Franklin said of the defensive unit. "We know we are better than the performance we put out today, on all three levels. We have to get back to the basics, lock in, have a good week of preparation and move forward."
Shane Steichen maintained his faith in this Colts defense postgame, saying, "Because of the guys we got over there, Zaire, E.J. (LB E.J. Speed), Womack (CB Samuel Womack III), Kwity (DE Kwity Paye). All the guys, they work their tails off every week. This is the National Football League. This stuff ain't easy, and our guys battle and fight and scratch and claw, and we just have to find ways at the end, and obviously this was a tough one today.”
The Colts scored 24 points in the fourth quarter which was its most in a final frame of a game since 2003. Indianapolis falls to 2-3 on the season. The Colts play the Titans next week in Nashville.