The Colts head to Jacksonville for round two against the Jaguars in a game that find

s the Jags disheveled and reeling from organizational changes Pat McAfee Color Rush Jersey , suspensions, and injuries. While it seems like a game the Colts should almost certainly win, it is a really important one as the Colts work to make the playoffs. It can’t be taken lightly. I reached out to Ryan O’Bleness of Big Cat Country again to get his perspective on a few questions heading into this game.This has been a crazy week for the Jaguars as an organization with the firing of OC Nathaniel Hackett, the benching of Blake Bortles, and the suspension of Leonard Fournette. What should we expect to see from this Jaguars’ offense? The Jaguars -- as both a team and an organization -- are in shambles right now. I have to imagine that all of this turmoil bodes well for the Colts. In addition to all of that, the Jaguars also put prized free agent left guard Andrew Norwell on IR this week, and Jalen Ramsey may miss his first game ever with a knee issue. I really don’t know what to expect from this team, and struggle to talk myself into ways it will even be competitive on Sunday. Cody Kessler will draw the start for Blake Bortles, which is a necessary, but an uninspiring change. Quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich will take over play-calling and interim offensive coordinator duties. Most of his coaching experience, which includes being both an OC and a head coach, comes from the Canadian Football League. He also played quarterback in the NFL. Carlos Hyde and TJ Yeldon are fine replacement options for Fournette, but they’re not Fournette. I wouldn’t expect the Jaguars to completely differ from what they’ve been doing this season -- running the ball and using quick, shallow crossing routes and some playaction, but perhaps there will be a few more wrinkles and concepts added in moving forward, but the fact of the matter is that the Jaguars just don’t have the offensive pieces to make any drastic improvements, and that’s due to both injuries and poor roster construction on that side of the ball. I would expect a pretty conservative game plan to try to get Kessler comfortable. In the last matchup between the Colts and Jaguars, the defense seemed out of sorts in the first half and then clamped down on the Colts in the second half. How do you anticipate this defense attacking the Colts offense if they want to find success? That game was a bit out of the norm for the Jacksonville defense. The Jaguars are normally very strong against the pass and not as stout against the rush, but in the first meeting with the Colts, the Jags pretty much shut down the running game, but were carved up by Andrew Luck and Eric Ebron https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Jack-Doyle-Jersey , particularly in the first half. According to Jalen Ramsey, there were some communications issues in the secondary, which caused a lot of the breakdowns. So, whether Ramsey plays or not, that is obviously something that can’t happen again. Then the Jaguars will obviously need to pay better attention to Eric Ebron and make sure there is a body on him at all times. If Jacksonville can shut down the run again, effectively communicate with each other, take away Hilton and Ebron and not only get pressure on Andrew Luck, but actually finish the play with a sack, then they’ll be in good position. Generating turnovers is a must, also. That probably sounds simple and obvious, but the Jags must get back to the basics of their core identity on defense. If you are the defensive coordinator and you have to choose between shutting down T.Y. Hilton or Eric Ebron as a major threat in the upcoming game, who are you planning most for? I am still game-planning against Hilton, however, I know better than to let Ebron roam around free. If Ramsey plays, I would probably shadow Hilton with him, and if he doesn’t I would be confident in A.J. Bouye’s ability to do the same. Ramsey is the more physical cornerback who can press Hilton and has better speed, but Bouye is still probably a top-10 cornerback himself and can handle his own. As for Ebron, I am keeping the speedy Telvin Smith on him -- although he didn’t have the best game in Week 10 -- and I am having him play physical off of Ebron’s release to try to mess up the timing of his route. Another option would be to play the “Big Nickel” package and bring in a third safety, likely rookie Ronnie Harrison, to cover him. The Jaguars have had their struggles playing zone defense this season, so I am not sure that would be the answer. But to answer your question Adam Vinatieri Jersey , Hilton is the bigger concern to me -- especially with the way that Luck is playing this season. The Jaguars got a ton of yards after the catch against the Colts in the first game and Bortles had a really excellent throw to Donte Moncrief for a big touchdown as well. Is Cody Kessler capable of airing it out like that or will the Jaguars be stuck taking the short throws and trying to turn them into big gains? I think the jury is still out on Kessler because he has such a limited sample size (248 passes in three seasons), but based off of what we know of him, my answer is no. His career long is 44 yards and that was a catch-and-run by Isaiah Crowell. He’s not a player that is going to drive the ball down the field, and as I said earlier I expect the Jaguars to have a pretty conservative game plan with Kessler where the team runs the ball a lot and tries to get the ball out of his hands quickly. I read a good article that came from your site actually, breaking down what we’re likely to get from Kessler. Maybe we will be surprised, but I would expect a lot more of the “dink and dunk” offense.With a season that has inexplicably gone very differently than expected, what is the move that the Jaguars have to make this offseason to right the ship? It 100 percent needs to be quarterback. Whether Kessler is a viable option or not remains to be seen, and perhaps he can be a bridge quarterback for a rookie who needs to develop next year, such as Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins. Or perhaps Kessler is not the answer at all, and the Jaguars sign a veteran signal caller in free agency, but the problem with that is it’s looking like a very underwhelming group. Getting into coaching staff and personnel, the Jaguars have to find a good fit at offensive coordinator and one that can keep up with the trends of the modern NFL, while a lot of fans would like to see the team move on from general manager Dave Caldwell. The Jags will obviously need to make a splash there if that’s the case as well. If the struggles continue, defensive coordinator Todd Wash may find himself out of a job soon, too. The Colts squeaked out a win in what was an ugly and mistake-riddled performance. Ultimately, what counts is that they got the win, and they’ll move to 6-5 on the season and extend their win streak to 5 games. It would be foolish to expect that there will not be some games where the team struggles, and this was certainly one of those. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from this game.WinnersDarius LeonardBrian Spurlock-USA TODAY SportsLet’s just go ahead and pencil him in as a winner from here on out, because that’s something he has earned. Leonard continues his exemplary play and notched another 10 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 QB hit. He is 17 total tackles ahead of the next guy Marvin Harrison Color Rush Jersey , and he missed a game. After going down on the first play of the game and leaving with what looked like a knee injury, Leonard was back in action again when the defense next took the field. He continues to be their most reliable defensive player and it is tough to remember that he is still so young and that his ceiling is even higher still. T.Y. HiltonThomas J. Russo-USA TODAY SportsHilton couldn’t top his game last week, but he did his best to come close. He was 7 of 10 for 125 yards on the day, and asserted himself once again as a key cog to the Colts’ offense. With just two tight ends active today, the Colts couldn’t run their 3 tight end sets that have become a standard with Frank Reich. Hilton’s continued production allowed them to be effective despite that loss of personnel. Even with all the different players getting targeted and Hilton missing 2 games, he is still on pace to have a career high in touchdowns, and to surpass his yards total from last season. That’s exactly what the Colts need out of him if they want to keep rolling.Eric EbronBrian Spurlock-USA TODAY SportsEric Ebron has 11 receiving touchdowns. That is good for a tie with Antonio Brown and Tyreek Hill for first in the NFL. You can bet both those guys have seen more targets than Ebron, too. It seems like all he does is make teams pay in the red zone. Ebron went 5 of 7 for 45 yards and 2 touchdowns. If Luck had thrown a better ball, he might have even had a 3rd score today as well instead of Xavien Howard getting a second interception. It is a long shot, but there is an actual possibility that Ebron could break Rob Gronkowski’s single season receiving touchdown record by a tight end of 17 if he continues his current pace. Pretty decent free agent pickup.Marlon MackBrian Spurlock-USA TODAY SportsWith the game hanging in the balance and the offense struggling for much of the first three quarters, Mack sort of took over this game. He rushed for 85 yards on 15 attempts, 34 of those yards coming in the 4th quarter on a critical drive that ended in a field goal and helped give the team much needed momentum as they pushed to get back into the game. Mack left the game with a concussion on that drive, but he continues to be an effective weapon on the ground and added another 2 catches for 11 yards in the passing game for 96 yards from scrimmage. For the lead back in a committee, that’s a nice performance. Had he not had to leave the game, he was well on his way to another 100-yard game on the ground. Honorable Mentions: Nyheim Hines, Mike Mitchell, Margus Hunt, Quincy WilsonLosersPierre DesirIt is hard to label someone a loser from just one play, but if that play is a 74-yard touchdown, you might have to make an exception. That’s exactly what Desir gave up to Leonte Carroo with just over a minute left in the first half. QB Ryan Tannehill scrambled to buy himself time to throw the ball and went deep to Carroo, who had his route undercut by Desir. What followed was one of the poorest vertical leaps I’ve ever witnessed in an NFL game. To make matters worse https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Tarell-Basham-Jersey , Desir gets knocked down while going for the ball, so he isn’t even able to make a tackle after whiffing on the interception. Hooker also gets an honorable mention and won’t be feeling great when his loaf on this play is called out in meetings this week. Not a great showing for the secondary here.Jordan WilkinsWilkins didn’t get a lot of time in this game, but he made an impact nonetheless. While the Colts didn’t use him in the running game, his 3 passes for 32 yards were a strong showing. Unfortunately, at the end of one of those 3 catches, Wilkins fumbled the ball away.That fumble came on the heels of a defensive stop, and stunted the momentum of the offense, which was moving the ball effectively up to that point. There are a lot of things to like about Jordan Wilkins. He has shown that he has value as a rotational back, but he won’t be able to continue to get looks if he cannot protect the ball. His fumble didn’t result in points for Miami, but he can’t make those kinds of mistakes going forward.Special TeamsIt was a rough outing for the special teams unit Sunday. The Colts found themselves often in poor field position, pinned inside their own 15-yard line 4 different times by the Dolphins’ punt team. By comparison, they were able to put Miami at their 11-yard line once, which was the only time a punt put them deeper than their 34-yard line.Adam Vinatieri, despite kicking the game winner, shanked a field goal try in the 3rd quarter and a blocked punt set the Dolphins up at the Colts’ 42-yard line which resulted in a field goal. Both Rigoberto Sanchez and Adam Vinatieri would probably like to have a do-over on this game. They’ll undoubtedly be fine, but the unit as a whole needs to step it up down the stretch, because the margin for error is slim, and wins are at a premium.