Article by Dan Tortora
To say the start of the 2022-23 National Football League (NFL) season was interesting for the AFC South would be an understatement.
All four teams played, but none of them came away with a win, with the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans tying and the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans losing.
This left the keys to the AFC South car sitting in the ignition waiting for someone to start the engine...
Here in Duval county in Jacksonville, Florida, two of those teams quarrelled for the rights to take those keys, with the Jaguars hosting the Colts in the first game of the season in TIAA Bank Field in the "Sunshine State".
On the opening drive of the game, and on their second third-down attempt, Indianapolis quarterback Matt Ryan aired out to the open and Jacksonville strong safety Rayshawn Jenkins got under the rainbow to find the pot of gold, picking off Ryan and getting to his own 32.
The Jaguars would make the most of their opening drive that was set up by their defensive takeaway, with quarterback Trevor Lawrence going 7-for-7 on the drive, including the 10-yard pass-play over the middle to wide receiver Christian Kirk, who was signed in the off-season after coming into the league as a member of the Arizona Cardinals, putting Jacksonville on the board first, 7-0, with 2:21 remaining in the first quarter.
Both Indianapolis and Jacksonville would punt the ball away on their second drives of the first half.
After the Colts punted their next possession away as well, the Jaguars would find the end zone for the second time on three drives, when running back James Robinson took a carry to the left, cut inside, and jetted out into the open field for a 37-yard score that gave the Jaguars a 14-0 lead with 7:52 before half. This play was set up by a throw delivered from Lawrence to Kirk while on the run and rolling to the left, a 26-yard pass-play.
On their following drive, their fourth possession of the first half, kicker Riley Patterson got enough under his 52-yard attempt to advance Jacksonville out to a 17-0 lead with 1:43 remaining on the second-quarter clock, a lead they would carry into the locker room.
Jacksonville outside linebackers Josh Allen and Arden Key each got to Ryan in the first half, Allen sacking him twice and Key taking Ryan down right before the half.
The Jaguars would punt away their first drive of the second half, but not before clearing just shy of five minutes off the game clock.
Indianapolis would take a little over two minutes off the clock before punting it back to Jacksonville around the eight-minute mark of the third quarter.
On the Jaguars' second drive of the second half, Lawrence went 9-for-10, with the last coming on a short pass to Kirk on 4th-&-5 as he rolled right with Kirk toward the end zone, this giving Jacksonville a 24-0 advantage with 17 seconds left on the third-quarter clock.
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor broke away for his first big carry of the game, a 21-yarder at the end of the third quarter. Before this, Taylor was held to nine yards on six carries, an average of 0.7 yards per carry coming from last season's leading rusher of the entire league.
Ryan would take five chances inside the redzone on one drive earlier in the fourth quarter, but Jacksonville gave them nothing, eventually taking the ball back on downs on their own 13 when a pass from Ryan to wide receiver Mike Strachan fell incomplete.
The Jaguars would force the Colts to turn the ball over on downs from deep inside their own territory for a consecutive time, with both linebacker Devin Lloyd and strong safety Rayshawn Jenkins providing coverage that prevented scoring plays in the end zone, keeping the shutout alive.
On their following drive, Ryan had the ball tipped by Jacksonville defensive end Folorunso Fatukasi as he tried to release it high & linebacker Devin Lloyd picked him off with approximately 4:30 to play.
He would be intercepted again shortly into their next drive, this time by free safety Andre Cisco, Ryan's third overall interception on the day.
Lawrence would finish the contest 25-for-30 for 235 yards, two touchdowns (both to Christian Kirk), and no interceptions.
Ryan closed the game 16-for-30 for 195 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Last season's leading rusher Jonathan Taylor was held to 54 yards on nine yards (6 yards per carry) and no touchdowns.
Robinson was the lead ball-carrier for the Jaguars, getting the pigskin 23 times and taking it 64 yards (2.8 yards per carry) and a rushing touchdown.
Etienne, Jr., followed with nine carries for 20 yards (2.2 yards per carry).
Ashton Dulin led a Colts' receiving core that was without main target Michael Pittman, Jr., amounting 79 yards on five catches.
Kirk caught all six passes Lawrence threw his way, leading the team with 78 yards and the two aforementioned scores.
Cisco and Lloyd led the Jaguars with six total tackles apiece.
Robertson-Harris and defensive end Adam Gotsis each had a sack to join Allen (2) and Key (1), with Jacksonville sacking Ryan five times in this 24-0 victory to get the first win of any AFC South team this season, improving to 1-1, while the Colts fall to 0-1-1.
Frank Reich is now 0-5 against the Jaguars on the road as the Head Coach of the Colts.
This also serves as Matt Ryan's first career loss versus Jacksonville, now 4-1.