The Colts' Defense, 2023 Season
 

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(vs. JAGUARS, 9/10)


Our boys made 9 stops overall.

They bailed out the offense near the end of the 1st half, when Jackson fumbled and the defense pushed the Jaguars out of FG-range with back-to-back losses on 2nd and 3rd downs.

They again bailed out the offense in the 2nd half when the offense was stopped on 4th down near the middle of the field, and DeForest Buckner scored a TD on a fumble return after sacking Trevor Lawrence 2 plays later.

Unfortunately, the Colts turned the ball over yet again in the 4th quarter on an INT ...... the Jaguars converted this into what turned out to be the game-clinching TD which put them up by 10 points with just over 4 minutes left to play.




Possessions: lll..... 14

Punts: lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 5

INT's: lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 1

Fumbles: llllllllllllllllllllll. 1

TO on Downs: llllllllll, 2

TD's: llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 4

FG's: llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 1

o

They also turned the ball over on downs, passing up 2 FGs

No wonder they were gassed in the 4th. 14 possessions is a shit ton. Secondary still needs help though.

o


Excellent point ...... late in the 2022 season, the average number of possessions-per-game for a team in the NFL was 10.9.

22 years earlier (in 2000), the average was 11.9 ...... one full possession more than in 2022, but still 2 full possessions less than what the Jaguars had this past Sunday.


************************************


I got that information from the following article, which was written in December of 2022 (13 games into the 17-game regular season.)



NFL Games Have Never Been Closer ...... Here’s Why

(By Josh Hermsmeyer)

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...ser-heres-why/

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There is no help coming unless Juju gets up to speed with the rest of the guys. But Lawrence made some indefensible throws in the game. I thought Baker had good coverage, but you can’t defend the perfect throw.

Those extra possessions came in the 2nd half, too. After that damn punt in the 4th qtr (still can't get over that bounce), JAX had a 10-play drive. Then AR throws an INT 14-seconds later. Three plays later, Etienne with the backbreaker.

Zay Jones' TD was ridiculous, Engram on the sideline was dirty, and the Ridley catch when Moore and Baker collided makes you toss your hands up.

Defense was solid. The offense couldn't keep up with them. Yeah, deja vu from last season, but now that there's hope at the QB position I'm not as irritated.

o


(vs. TEXANS, 9/17)


Our boys made 5 (6) stops overall (I consider a missed 51-yard field goal attempt to be a stop ...... if the miss were from inside of 40 yards, then I would consider it to be lucky.)

The 6th and final "stop" was made after the game had already been decided, and the clock ran out.

Unlike last week when the Jaguars had 14 possessions, the Texans only had 9 possessions when it counted, and 1 additional 10th possession after the game had already been decided.




Possessions: lllllll,, 9 (10)

Punts: lllllllllllllllllllllllll,, 3

Fumbles: llllllllllllllllllllll 1

Missed FG: lllllllllllllll) 1

Clock Ran Out llllllll 1

TD's: llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 2

FG's: llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 2

o

They need a shitload of help.

Terrible coverage against the Texans, just fucking terrible.

I was surprised when I looked up the TOP in the 4th. Texans finished the game with 23 more plays than us and a 35:00-25:00 TOP advantage.