Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts: Friday Fact or Fiction

Sep 29, 2016; London, United Kingdom; General view of signage of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) and Indianapolis Colts linebacker Robert Mathis (98) with the world “Feel the Rush” on Olympic Way outside of Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

In what is likely his last game as an NFL coach in London, Gus Bradley needs to help the Jacksonville Jaguars avoid another embarrassing loss if he wants to keep his job for much longer.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have taken a lot of flak over the last two weeks and rightfully so – they’ve been the most disappointing team in the league. All the offseason hype built up thanks to a good draft and free agency haul is long gone and the team is struggling to just stay relevant after only 3 games.

Enter London and a divisional matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. The Jaguars finally beat their division rivals last year, but they did it against a Matt Hasselbeck-led Colts squad. Andrew Luck is back and healthy, which has historically been bad news for the Jaguars.

While plenty of focus has been given to head coach Gus Bradley and what appears to be the inevitable end of his coaching stint in Jacksonville, all eyes should be on quarterback Blake Bortles this week. The third year signal caller was looking to build off a terrific sophomore campaign (35 touchdowns and over 4,000 yards passing), but he’s been inconsistent in 2016 with some moments of downright lunacy in terms of decision making. Some analysts have written the former UCF product off, but a good performance this week will do a lot to give whoever the next coach is the confidence that Bortles can be the guy.

So what’s going to actually happen this Sunday when the Jaguars take the field at Wembley Stadium? Are they going to bounce back, or is this going to be another nail in Gus Bradley’s coffin? Click ahead to see my “rock solid” predictions:

Sep 25, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith (89) yells at Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey (20) after a game at EverBank Field. Baltimore Ravens won 19-17. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Jalen Ramsey will have an interception: FACT

The Jaguars haven’t had much to hang their hat on over the first three weeks as a whole, but there have been some noteworthy individual performers. The defense has flashed at times and a big reason why is the outstanding performance of first round pick Jalen Ramsey. Rookie cornerbacks have a tendency to struggle out of the game, but Ramsey’s physicality and confidence has already translated to the pro game. He made his presence felt last week against Baltimore, so much so that Steve Smith Jr. felt the need to find the rookie after the game to trash talk.

In just his third start, the Jaguars moved Ramsey over to their left side, which is generally thought of as the tougher half of the field because right-handed quarterbacks are more comfortable throwing, and more likely to throw, to their right. As Jacksonville’s de facto no. 1 corner, he was nearly flawless in coverage, particularly when lined up across from Smith. Whatever the two said to each other during the game, Smith apparently took exception to it, and approached Ramsey after the Ravens had won. Ramsey shrugged it off.

One of the knocks on Ramsey coming out of the draft was his lack of interceptions at Florida State, but he’s already played a part in an interception this season. Any time he’s been challenged down the field he’s spotted at the receiver’s hip, but this week will present a different challenge. The Colts don’t have a physical pass catcher, but they have plenty of speed in T.Y. Hilton and Philip Dorsett. I expect Andrew Luck to try and push the ball down the field early and often to test Ramsey, and I think the rookie will find one of those deep balls and snatch it up for his first career interception.

Sep 25, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Chris Ivory (33) runs onto the field before a football game against the Baltimore Ravens at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Ivory and T.J. Yeldon will combine for 100+ yards rushing: FICTION

The Jacksonville Jaguars have accumulated a paltry 165 rushing yards as a team over the first 3 weeks. That’s less than TWENTY individual running backs in that stretch, including such traditional luminaries Spencer Ware and Christine Michael. General manager David Caldwell signed Chris Ivory to a sizeable deal this offseason with the intent of giving the Jaguars one of the more intriguing backfield duos in the league. Unfortunately, the Jaguars have been one of the worst run blocking teams in the NFL so far and it’s reflected in their statistics.

Ivory finally made it back to the field last week after an undisclosed injury delayed his Jaguars debut, but he was largely ineffective. In what seems like an odd decision, the Jaguars have deployed Ivory in a number of stretch and zone runs. Ivory is a physical, bruising back who is at his best going north and south, building momentum as he goes along. Tasking him with lateral runs is not the best way to use him so I expect them to get rid of most of those plays this week.

T.J. Yeldon had to carry the load over the first two weeks with little to no success, but he did have a big game (100+ yards) in London last week.

So will the Jaguar running backs get into a groove this week against a less than stellar Colts defense?

Nah.

The Colts may not have a great defense, but they are quite competent at stopping the run (95.7 yards per game), and they get back their best defensive player this week in Henry Anderson. So even if the Jacksonville offensive line is back at full strength with Kelvin Beachum and Brandon Linder, there’s little reason to think the Jaguars will be able to establish the run. Especially if the next guy we’re going to talk about isn’t making plays on a consistent basis…

Sep 25, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) smiles during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at EverBank Field. Baltimore Ravens won 19-17. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Blake Bortles will throw an interception: FICTION

Most Jaguars fans thought they had finally figured out the quarterback position this offseason after the terrific statistical year Blake Bortles put together, but you can’t fault anyone for having big doubts at this moment. Instead of taking that next step in year three, Bortles appears to have taken a step back. He’s making mistakes that harken back to his rookie year and his mechanics have noticeably deteriorated. He isn’t making those “wow” throws down the field (outside of the dime he dropped to Julius Thomas in week 1) that propelled his sophomore breakout campaign, and he’s also straight up missing open receivers.

The Colts appear to be a good matchup to get Blake going, but they stopped Philip Rivers last week for the most part. This is a tough spot for Blake, but he has to step up and put together a solid game if he wants to silence doubters. I think he plays a mostly mistake-free game, but it won’t be enough.

Are the Jacksonville Jaguars the worst team in the league? Probably not, but you can’t really argue against what you see on the field and the Jaguars are an inconsistent collection of talent. That falls on the coaching more than some people would like to admit, but there’s absolutely no rationalization behind the notion that they will win this week or turn their season around. They have a lame duck head coach who’s unwilling or (more likely) unable to make the necessary adjustments to get this team prepared to play winning football. We’ll see that yet again (for the 40th time) this Sunday when the Jaguars lose to the Colts.

PREDICTION: Jaguars 20 – Colts 38