Chiefs in hopes of upsetting the AFC¡¯s No. 1 seed in order to
make their way to the AFC Championship Game next weekend. The Colts ¡®1-0¡¯ mantra
had been serving them well thus far as they¡¯ve ripped off 10 wins in their last
11
games
https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Andrew-Luck-Jersey ,
but this wasn¡¯t anything like any of those games before.In the elements created
from the winter storm that came through, the Colts and their offense sputtered
out of the gate going three-and-out on their first two drives while the Chiefs
came out hitting on all cylinders on their first two possessions to grab the big
early lead in front of their exuberant crowd. The Colts eventually got on the
board via a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone, but that was about
all the Colts had to show for their efforts in the first half. The Colts weren¡¯t
much better in the second half either, and though they were able to move the
ball far more effectively, it was far too little, far too late. In fact, Justin
Houston¡¯s sack on Luck late in the third quarter may have even put the final
nail in the Colts¡¯ coffin.In the end, the Chiefs put an end to the Colts¡¯
magical run and ended their season in this 31-13 mismatch in the Divisional
Round. Fortunately, though, Colts fans can proudly, say ¡°I can¡¯t wait until next
year!¡± with confidence.Travis Kelce steamrolls Colts for over 100 yards, sets
early tone for Chiefs¡¯ offenseWe all knew that the Colts defense was going to be
susceptible to the combination of Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes given their
heavy zone looks. Whether the Colts were allowing that connection to play itself
out, and attempt to just lock down the rest of the Chiefs¡¯ playmakers or not,
that absolutely did not work. Tyreek Hill gashed the Colts for a long 36-yard
touchdown run, Damien Williams ran down their throat and put up another score on
the ground, and Sammy Watkins was a thorn in their side as well. But, there¡¯s no
question that Kelce¡¯s play, especially in the first half, opened up the entire
Chiefs¡¯ offensive playbook for the remainder of the game.Kelce put up 93
receiving yards on the Colts¡¯ defense in the first half, and ended with 108
yards on just 7 receptions. Colts offense failed to achieve first down through
initial 28 minutes of gameBatted balls at the line of scrimmage, Marlon Mack
getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage, and Eric Ebron running his
third-down route short of the sticks all led to the Colts going three-and-out on
their initial four first half possessions. That¡¯s truly pathetic football. 12
plays and just over 6 minutes worth of possession in the first half. The Colts
did manage to get the ball moving inside of the 2-minute warning rattling off 4
first downs as they were racing the clock with no timeouts remaining. However,
they set up Adam Vinatieri for a field goal attempt with just a few seconds left
in the first half, but it was all for naught as his kick was no good. The Colts
offense wasn¡¯t much better in the second
half
Josh Ferguson
Jersey , and may not have really been better at all with all things
considered. They couldn¡¯t do anything against one of the league¡¯s worst
defenses, couldn¡¯t sustain drives, couldn¡¯t get the ball out quickly, they were
much more leaky up front in the trenches than they¡¯ve been this year, and the
unit just seemed very out of sync all night long. Colts failed to get any
pressure on Patrick Mahomes throughout gameYes, the Colts earned a handful of
sacks throughout the night. But, no, the Colts did not get much pressure on the
presumptive league MVP at all throughout this Divisional matchup. Jabaal Sheard
earned a legit sack after winning off the edge in the second quarter, and Denico
Autry was able to get himself a sack of the coverage type in the third
quarter.Grover Stewart completed a sack ¡ª though he didn¡¯t get credit for it ¡ª
when Mahomes lost control of the ball and was forced to fall on it, and Kenny
Moore was able to earn himself a couple more as well. Any way you look at it,
the Colts¡¯ front four was not able to consistently get pressure on the Chiefs¡¯
passer. The coverage downfield improved in the second half, but pressure after
four or five seconds of waiting for a receiver to open up, isn¡¯t really
pressure. As we all witnessed, getting pressure on the opposing quarterback is
king. The Chiefs were able to generate it on Luck and get in his face all night,
and the lack of offensive efficiency proves that. The Colts weren¡¯t able to do
that consistently on Mahomes from the interior and that allowed the Chiefs to
build an insurmountable lead. Colts receivers lost the line of scrimmage most of
the nightThe Colts¡¯ receivers had 5 receptions on their final drive of the first
half. That was, without question, the most production the group showed in the
first 30 minutes of the game. In their first 4 possessions before that,
combined, the Colts¡¯ pass catchers only hauled in 2 catches. In the second half,
they could only manage to bring in 12 more catches, and Hilton was able to turn
one of those into a very nice touchdown grab. Additionally, the Colts hauled in
5 of those 12 second-half catches in garbage time on their final possession of
the game. For the most part, the Colts receivers were out-muscled and just flat
out out-played from the snap. This group will be an area that gets a lot of
attention heading into the 2019 season and will need another legit weapon in
order to work towards the group becoming a strength which it clearly was not
this season. Kenny Moore played his butt offOne of the guys who had been getting
pumped up since the opening of training camp, and legitimately earned all of his
praise throughout the year was Kenny Moore. Moore showed that despite his
stature that he could not be overlooked as an excellent cover corner. He matched
up well against several team¡¯s No. 1 receivers throughout the
season
T.J. Green Color Rush
Jersey , and played them tight and tough. He¡¯s shown that he is one of the
most physical guys in the Colts¡¯ secondary, and that he can be counted on to be
one of their premiere defenders into next season. The undrafted free agent was
second in total tackles tonight for the Colts, totaled two sacks and had knocked
down a pass on another blitz from the slot as well. Look for Moore to be getting
a lot of praise as the 2019 season begins to get closer. Andrew Luck started
Sunday by carving up Jacksonville¡¯s staunch defense.He finished it by playing
the eager spectator.After throwing three first-half touchdown passes and picking
up only two first downs in the second half, he celebrated when the Indianapolis
Colts¡® defense delivered the decisive turnover with 90 seconds left to preserve
a 29-26 victory over the Jaguars.¡°We played well enough in the first half to put
some points on the board,¡± Luck said. ¡°Then we survived.¡±Barely survived, that
is.Trailing by three, Jacksonville quickly marched from its 42-yard line into
field goal range, and when Rashad Greene Sr. went down at the Colts¡¯ 23, it
looked like the Jaguars were already set up for at least a tying field goal.
Initially, Greene was ruled down before the ball squirted out.But just before
the Jags (3-6) ran the next play, the whistles blew for a booth review. A few
minutes later, the call was overturned, giving the ball and the game to the
Colts, who have won three straight for the first time in three years.¡°I thought
we got the play off, but obviously, we didn¡¯t,¡± Jags coach Doug Marrone said
before elaborating later. ¡°Personally, I thought it wasn¡¯t a fumble. But I see
what everybody sees from the sideline.¡±Last year¡¯s AFC runner-ups were a popular
preseason pick to dethrone New England. Instead, the Jags have lost five
straight, six of seven and are last in the division.And they don¡¯t get more
painful than this.Jacksonville had an extra point blocked and nearly returned
for a 2-point conversion in the first half.Two 15-yard penalties helped Indy
score its fourth touchdown, a 1-yard pass from Luck to Mo Alie-Cox late in the
second quarter. An offside call on the ensuing extra point prompted coach Frank
Reich to go for two, which Marlon Mack punched it in to make it
29-13.Jacksonville kicker Josh Lambo missed his first field goal of the season,
a 52-yarder, wide left in the third quarter but then made a 55-yarder to cut the
deficit to three with 4:03
left.Finally
https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Matthias-Farley-Jersey ,
Kenny Moore III sealed the Jags¡¯ fate by ripping the ball away from Greene just
before his leg went down and Malik Hooker scooped it up.¡°Offensively we¡¯re
looking to improve, put that thing away,¡± Reich said. ¡°But make no mistake about
it: This was a huge win for us.¡±Luck started fast, hooking up with Eric Ebron on
a 53-yard TD pass seven plays into the game.After Donte Moncrief tied it on an
80-yard scoring play, Ebron answered with a 2-yard TD run to make it 14-7. Luck
connected with Ebron again on a 12-yard TD pass, giving the tight end a
career-high third score with 9:19 left in the first half.Luck finished 21 of 29
with 285 yards, one interception and was not sacked.Blake Bortles was 26 of 38
with 320 yards and two TD passes while Leonard Fournette had 53 yards rushing,
56 yards receiving and his first two scores of the season �one on the ground,
one through the air.It just wasn¡¯t enough.¡°It¡¯s a good defense, a lot of respect
for that defense,¡± Luck said. ¡°We certainly weren¡¯t sharp enough.¡±INJURY
REPORTJaguars: Center Brandon Linder and offensive tackle Ereck Flowers both
left in the third quarter with knee injuries.Colts: Defensive end Carroll
Phillips left in the first half with an injured groin. Defensive tackle Grover
Stewart left with an injured ankle in the fourth quarter. Neither
returned.AUTOMATIC ADAMThe Colts honored the NFL¡¯s new career scoring leader,
Adam Vinatieri, before the game with a brief highlight film and the distinction
of being the last starter introduced to the crowd, which roared.Vinatieri
responded by waving to the crowd and slapping hands with some fans on the field.
Then he added three more points to his record-breaking total (2,553) before
missing a 52-yard attempt wide right with 2:58 left in the game.He also tied
George Blanda for the most regular-season wins in league history (209).STAT
PACKJaguars: Fournette had 29 touches, 24 carries and five receptions, in his
third game this season. ¡ Punter Logan Cooke completed a 4-yard pass on a fake
field goal, which kept the Jags¡¯ 17-play drive alive to open the second half.
The drive ended with Fournette¡¯s 1-yard TD catch.Colts: Ebron finished with
three catches for 69 yards. ¡ Jack Doyle and Alie-Cox, Indy¡¯s other two tight
ends, combined for five catches and 64 yards. ¡ Rookie Jordan Wilkins broke free
for Indy¡¯s longest run of the season (53 yards) in the first half.UP
NEXTJaguars: Jacksonville can snap its losing streak next Sunday when it hosts
Pittsburgh.Colts: Could get back into the AFC South race by beating Tennessee at
home next Sunday.