The Jaguars have been playing without star running back Maurice Jones-Drew since he went down early in week seven with a foot injury. The Jags will also be without quarterback Blaine Gabbert for the rest of the season, who has been placed on Injured Reserve with a shoulder injury that was suffered against the Indianapolis Colts. Veteran quarterback Chad Henne stepped in for Gabbert, and helped the Jaguars take the Houston Texans to overtime in his first start of the season. Henne also led the Jaguars to their second win in week 12 against the Titans. Jacksonville will have many questions to answer after the season is over, but at least Henne has come out and fought hard. Both of Jacksonville’s wins have come against AFC South teams.

The Titans have lost all four of their games within the division. Tennessee has also had quarterback issues of their own. Jake Locker returned in week 10 from a shoulder injury, but has yet to win a game in the three weeks since. Running back Chris Johnson has rushed for over 100 yards three times in the last six games, but have only won two of those contests. The Titans play at the Colts this week, and have already lost an overtime thriller at home against Indianapolis in week eight.

The Houston Texans continue to play well, but have also had several very tight games recently. The Texans became the first team in NFL history to win two overtime games in a five-day span, defeating the Jaguars 43-37 in week 11, and then defeating the Detroit Lions 34-31 on Thanksgiving. The Texans can wrap up the AFC South win one more win or one more loss by the Colts. If Houston holds steady, they are in the driver’s seat for the number one seed in the AFC playoffs.

The Colts have been the most surprising and inspiring story in the NFL this season. Rookie quarterback Andrew Luck has already won more games in his first season than any other number one overall draft pick in NFL history. Even though Luck has thrown 16 interceptions against his 17 touchdown passes, he has also rushed for a Colts quarterback record five scores. The Colts play the Texans two times in the next four weeks, and can still win the division if the Texans slip up. The Colts are currently in the top AFC wildcard spot, and have already won six more games than they did all of last season.

Nov 8, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive end Cory Redding (90) lifts defensive back Darius Butler (20) after returning an interception for a touchdown during the third quarter at EverBank Field. Indianapolis defeated Jacksonville 27-10. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

Horseshoe Hero

Colts 27 – Jaguars 10

Every national broadcast network in the country is wishing they had scheduled more primetime slots for Indianapolis Colts games.

The extraordinarily talented young quarterback. The miraculous team turnaround. The unprecedented rally around the coach. The magic.

The Colts are 6-3 after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-10 in Thursday Night Football, the Colts’ only primetime appearance this season…unless they make the playoffs of course.

In the process of avenging a frustrating Week 3 loss at home to the Jags, the Colts outplayed their division rival in all 3 phases of the game. Despite having played an emotional game against the Dolphins just four days prior, the Horseshoe Heroes came out firing on all cylinders.

Offense

I’m running out of superlatives for Andrew Luck. The young quarterback continues to amaze me each and every week. Rookies are known for making mistakes, and Luck is no exception, but what makes Luck different from other rookies is that after he makes a mistake once, he never makes it again. Luck went 18 of 26 for 227 yards. Although he had no passing touchdowns, he had two rushing scores, bringing his season total to 5. This is just one less rushing score than the Washington Redskins’ mobile rookie Robert Griffin III. It is also more than any other Colts quarterback in history.

If I had to give Luck one criticism, it would be this: He does not give up on a play, no matter what. This is hardly a criticism, but sometimes Luck needs to throw the ball away to avoid taking a bad hit or making a bad decision. This was apparent on two particular plays on Thursday night. On one occasion, Luck threw a bad interception in the first quarter upon taking a hit to the helmet from Bears defenseman Andre Branch. However, the interception was overturned due to an unnecessary roughness penalty, and the Colts went on to score a field goal on the drive, their first points of the night. On the other occasion, however, Luck was not so luck-y, and his pass was intercepted by Dawan Landry in the second quarter. The Jaguars this time would go on to score the field goal on the drive, although the Colts were already up 17 points at that point.

On the receiving end, Reggie Wayne was back to his leading ways, topping the team in receptions (8) and receiving yards (96). In fact, the entire first half was the Luck-to-Wayne show. Wayne caught all but one of Luck’s completions in the first two quarters.

Donnie Avery was also impressive. He was the team’s second-leading receiver with 4 receptions for 65 yards. This included a highlight reel-worthy catch in the second quarter — a miraculous grab that gave the Colts a 44-yard gain and brought the team to the Jaguar’s 6-yard line. The Colts would score a touchdown just 4 plays later.

The Colts used four backs on Thursday night, mostly alternating between Vick Ballard and Donald Brown. They also used Delone Carter for short yardage plays and used Robert Hughes as fullback. Rookie Vick Ballard led the way on the ground, rushing for 48 yards on 12 carries. Donald Brown was not far behind him, having just 2 fewer yards on two additional carries.

Defense

The Colts’ defense is definitely improving. The unit is actually averaging 9.1 fewer PPG allowed this season than last season, and they held the Jaguars to just 10 points despite being without Robert Mathis, Vontae Davis, and Jerraud Powers.

Antoine Bethea continues to play strongly, and he led the team in tackles with 7. He also had a sack of Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert, as did Josh Gordy, Tom Zbikowski, and Jerry Hughes.

Even more impressive than the number of sacks was the number of takeaways. The Colts had gone the previous four games without a single takeaway, but on Thursday, they had three. Two were credited to Darius Butler, a third-year cornerback who started in place of the injured Powers. Butler, who was cut from both the Patriots and the Panthers in the past year before being picked up by the Colts, played like a starter against the Jaguars, recovering a fumble that was forced by Moise Fokou and running an interception back for a touchdown. Butler is yet another developing Cinderella story on this Colts team. He is definitely capitalizing on his opportunity.

Special Teams

Adam Vinatieri was perfect on the night, sending 2 field goals and 3 PATs sailing perfectly through the uprights. Pat McAfee, again only needed just 3 times due to the Colts’ impressive offensive play, kicked 2 touchbacks.

The Colts have won 4 – yes, four – games in a row. The team will get a nice 10-day break before hitting the road to take on the New England Patriots next Sunday. Will the Colts extend the streak to 5? Regardless, they have already outplayed expectations, and I certainly am enjoying watching the magic unfold this season.

Stay #CHUCKSTRONG, Colts fans! Horseshoe Hero will be back next week with the recap of the Patriots game.

By the way, did anyone else see Luck’s incredible tackle of Landry last night after the interception? And did you know that the Colts are now 6-0 in Thursday Night Football games?

Naptown’s Finest - Justin Blackmon caught his first career touchdown last Sunday. How are him and quarterback Blaine Gabbert working out?

Black and Teal – Justin Blackmon has been a disappointment.  The Jags have been trying very hard to get him involved in the offense but he hasn’t displayed the sure-handed catching he did in college or the preseason.  He has boggled balls and been inconsistent each time Blaine Gabbert has thrown to him.  I think it is rapidly becoming apparent that Gabbert is putting his game together.  When allowed to throw extensively he has delivered, including his first 300 yard game against the Packers.  Gabbert’s throws have a lot of zip on them and are mostly on target.  While there are a few throws that go high I think that with more attempts each game (or earlier attempts) the positives of his play will far outweigh the negatives.

NF -  Rashad Jennings hasn’t done much since Maurice Jones-Drew got injured. What can we expect from the Jaguars on offense, without their best player?

BT – I think that you can expect a continued poor showing from the running game and not much of a different game plan.  Jennings was a valued part of this roster coming into the season but has underperformed drastically.  While I think the game plan won’t change you should expect some more throws from Gabbert if only by virtue of them probably playing from behind in this game.  Expect 50-70 yards rushing from Jennings but maybe 250-300 yards from Gabbert.  The fans would love to see OC Bob Bratkowski take the leash off and let him come out throwing, but there is no history to suggest that he will be that aggressive in his play calling.

NF – The Colts gave the Jaguars their only victory of the season so far? What do you expect from Thursday’s game?

BT – I expect the Colts to jump out early against the Jaguars and fight to hold them off the rest of the game. I won’t suggest a Jacksonville win purely because of how close the last game was and how poorly the Jags have played at home this season, but I think it is possible the Jaguars could come close or maybe slip past late in the game again.  On the whole it’ll be a big day for Andrew Luck but maybe not a lot of points.  23-17 for the Colts.

Once again, I’d like to thank Mr. Sims for our collaborations this season. Make sure to check out more of his views on this game at www.blackandteal.com . You can also read the first part of our discussion here: “Discussing the Jacksonville Jaguars vs Indianapolis Colts in week Ten, Part One”