AFC South, American Football Conference, Latest Sports News, NFL NEWS
Thursday Night Football Preview: Indianapolis Colts vs Jacksonville Jaguars
Published by JM Van Horn on December 16, 2009
The Indianapolis Colts enter Thursday night football with a perfect record at 13-0 while the Jacksonville Jaguars are trying to remain one of the two wildcard teams from the AFC.
The Colts have locked up home field advantage under first year head coach Jim Caldwell. While quarterback Peyton Manning and wide receiver Reggie Wayne have been having their typical Pro Bowl seasons, the real story on the offensive unit has been Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai.
No one was sure what to expect from Addai this year, not even the Colts, who drafted a back up running back. All Addai has done is rack up 729 yards on the ground, caught 48 passes and scored 12 touchdowns.
Tight end Clark has been on fire, having a career year with 82 receptions for 902 yards. Clark has scored five touchdowns in his last four games and will be looking to improve upon the numbers he posted against the Jaguars in the first game of the season.
The Jaguars’ season has largely gone unnoticed around the country and in Jacksonville, where the team has not had a sellout this year at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Despite the lack of fan support, the Jaguars find themselves holding onto a narrow lead for the last wildcard spot in the AFC.
Led by quarterback David Garrad, has had a hard time putting up points when needed. After 13 games, Jacksonville averages 18.1 points per game and has not scored more than 30 points since the first week of October.
The key to the Jaguars success will rely upon one of the top running backs in the NFL, Maurice Jones-Drew. In his first full season as the starting back, he has gained 1,136 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. When the Jaguars played the Colts earlier year, he racked up 97 yards with one score.
The Colts defense is susceptible to the run without Bob Sanders and has given up an average of 110.4 yards per game on the ground. They did a solid job against the Titans Chris Johnson, who only ran for 113 yards two weeks ago.
All eyes will be on head Caldwell to see how he handles his star players. While some experts think they will start resting Manning and company after the midway point in the game, I see the Colts going with their starters unless it is a blowout.
The Jaguars are a division rival in the AFC South and the Colts would like nothing better than to keep them out of the NFL playoffs. The Colts will play this game like it means something and will work to shut down the running game. It will be a close one but the Colts will end up with another win.
Prediction: Indianapolis 21 Jacksonville 17
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...79 views
None
Tagged with: 2009 NFL Playoffs, 2009 NFL Season, AFC South, Dallas Clark, David Garrad, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jim Caldwell, JM Van Horn, Joseph Addai, Maurice Jones-Drew, NFL, NFL Predictions, Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Thursday Night Football
