Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Thursday, December 18, 2008, 8:15pm EST
Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
Records: Jacksonville 5-9, Indianapolis 10-4
Series history: Indianapolis leads, 11-4. Last meeting Jaguars won 23-21 in Indianapolis.
Five most important things for the Jaguars:
1. Relish the role of spoiler. If the Jaguars can’t make the playoffs, what would be better than ruining the Colts chances of making it? The Jaguars are underdogs and should play with no pressure as they try and complete the sweep over Indy.
2. Chip away in the passing game. The Colts don’t allow big plays in the passing game so the Jaguars need to take care of the football and keep moving the chains.
3. Play in front of the sticks. Jacksonville must avoid sacks and penalties when on offense, because they aren’t good enough to convert third and longs with consistency.
4. Get MJD involved a lot. The more Jones-Drew touches the ball, the more success the Jaguars will have. It’s really that simple.
5. Cover the deep ball. Indianapolis has a huge advantage with their passing game against the Jacksonville secondary and the Jaguars must keep Indy from getting big chunks of yardage quickly.
What to look for:
1. Look for Peyton Manning to throw for over 250 yards. I’m not sure how the Jaguars will slow down all the Colts weapons.
2. Look for Bob Sanders to make a difference. Sanders missed the first game between these two teams this year and the Jaguars were able to run the ball at will. It will be much more difficult with Sanders active.
3. Look for a Dallas Clark TD. He’s always open and he always plays well against Jacksonville.
4. Look for a big return by Brian Witherspoon. We may be going out on a bit of a limb here.
5. Look for Indy to win their eighth in a row. The Jaguars simply don’t have the horses to get the job done in this one.
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