Week 10 in the NFL is upon us, and teams are looking to position themselves for the push to the playoffs.
For the Indianapolis Colts, they need every win they can get as they sit at 4-5, 12th in the AFC, and two games back of the final Wild Card spot.
Luckily, this week brings the Jacksonville Jaguars to town, who at 2-6 should make for an easy opponent for Indy. However, history shows us that is far from the case.
Since Frank Reich became the head coach of the Colts in 2018, the series is 3-3, with the teams splitting the series each year. Both teams play each other tough, and this week looks to be no different.
“Looking forward to this week with Jacksonville,” Reich said earlier this week. “Obviously, another division opponent. They are coming off a big win against the Bills. So, it will be a good challenge. We know this is a team that we have a lot of respect for. This team has played us tough. We’ve struggled against them. They’ve got good personnel, so looking forward to this battle at home.”
The Colts are coming off a win against the New York Jets, where they scored their most points since 2014. The Jaguars are coming off a huge upset over the Buffalo Bills, where a defensive struggle earned them their second victory of the year.
The Jaguars overwhelmed the Bills with their defensive pressure. Bills quarterback Josh Allen was under duress all afternoon as he was sacked four times and intercepted twice. The Jaguars defender wreaking the most havoc was outside linebacker Josh Allen, who recorded a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery. Simply put, Josh Allen made Josh Allen’s life miserable.
Allen will now turn his attention to the Colts and look to do the same thing to Carson Wentz, who is coming off his best performance of the season. Wentz has done a good job in recent weeks of getting rid of the ball quickly and taking what the defense is giving him. The protection on Wentz has also been much better after a shaky start to begin the year.
One player that will be tasked with helping protect the franchise quarterback is Braden Smith. The right tackle, who signed a four-year, $72.4 million extension before training camp, was looking to prove the Colts made the right decision this season after extending him.
“I feel like Indianapolis is my home,” Smith said in training camp. “They paid me, so I want to pay them back. I want to play my best football, help them win as many games as we can, and just keep giving back.”
2021 has not been the season Smith had hoped for. He suffered a foot injury in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks that was originally only supposed to keep him out a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the injury drug on longer than even the Colts’ medical staff had expected, as Smith would miss six weeks.
During the time Smith was out, the Colts allowed less than two sacks only once. While backup tackle Matt Pryor was serviceable during Smith’s absence, it’s hard to replace a player that gave up zero sacks a year ago. The Colts needed their stud right tackle back to sure up their offensive line.
Smith was finally able to return a couple of weeks ago, and the play of the offensive line has gone to another level in his return. The Colts have only given up one sack in each of the games since Smith has returned. The Colts have also averaged 171.5 yards per game on the ground in the two games Smith has been back.
The offensive line play elevates when Smith is out there. When Smith returned against the Tennessee Titans in Week 8, it was the first time all season where the starters along the Colts’ offensive line had all played with one another in a game. The last two games have been a reminder of just how dominant this group can be when healthy.
Smith had to leave the game last week against the New York Jets with an elbow injury. While there has not been an update on his injury, and Smith did not practice on Wednesday, Reich does not seem to be worried about his availability on Sunday.
“I’m fairly optimistic we’ll be OK. But we’re continuing to evaluate.” Reich said Wednesday.
The Colts would certainly love to have Smith out there for Sunday. With the Jaguars posting 19 pressures against the Bills, and Allen having a career game, the Jaguars would like to continue this as they look for another upset over their division rival.
Not if Smith can help it.
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