Colts v Jaguars: Time To Add the Colts To Your Penciled in Playoff Bracket

Fans of NFL football should get used to writing the “Indianapolis Colts” when filling out your playoff brackets for the next decade.  We all were expecting the Colts to improve with Luck to the point of being playoff contenders in a couple of years.  With all the new additions, including the exodus of some players with Peyton Manning that reminded one eerily of Dan Marino’s departure from the Miami Dolphins, we figured this team had a year or two before qualifying for the playoffs.  With home games against the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans, as well as a road game against the Kansas City Chiefs, if the Colts just take care of business against these lower end teams, they’ll be at 9 wins.  Win one against the New England Patriots in Foxboro, at the Detroit Lions, or one of their two against the Houston Texans, including a Week 17 matchup where the Texans may send out Texas Southern’s practice squad since they should have home-field clinched, and it is easy to see the Colts getting the 10 wins that should get them into the playoffs. Today’s 27-10 victory wasn’t just a win, it was a statement game.  The Jaguars may not be the kind of team that you would think “statement” games are possible against this year, but the Colts showed that like all good teams, they take care of their business.  The Colts went on the road against a division rival and completely dominated the game.  They would score on three straight possessions in the first half, jumping to a 17-0 lead.  After the first 58 minutes, they would be up 27-3.  Chad Henne would find Cecil Shorts III for an 80-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the game.  Without that play, the Jaguars had only 257 yards of total offense. Andrew Luck turned in another solid performance through the air, though today, he did his scoring on the ground, running the ball in for two touchdowns.  A good sign for the Colts is that they are starting to get production from the rest of their team.  Vick Ballard and Donald Brown split the majority of the carries tonight, combing for 90 yards on the ground.  The Colts third touchdown of the night came from a pick-6 by Darius Butler. The Jaguars’ season is over.  At 1-8, with a quarterback who has been struggling since getting injured, and their star running back who has missed three games in a row, it is safe to say that this team is done.  And that Maurice Jones-Drew is not going to be rushing back into the lineup anytime soon.  The biggest questions for the Jaguars this season are, will they win a home game this season (they are currently 0-5 with the Titans, Jets and Patriots the last three teams coming to Jacksonville), and if they get the number 1 pick, will they draft another quarterback, deeming the Blaine Gabbert experiment a failure, will they draft a non-qb, or will they trade the pick. For the Colts, they will try to continue to ride the momentum they have going after winning four straight games.  They will have a long week to prepare for the New England Patriots, which would be there highest profile win this season.  One thing is for certain, that all talk of who is having the better rookie season has lost some steam, as Andrew Luck continues to lead his team to victories, while Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins continue to head toward a long vacation. The post Colts v Jaguars: Time To Add the Colts To Your Penciled in Playoff Bracket appeared first on Bay Area Sports Nut.