It wasn’t the smoothest day at the office, but the Jacksonville Jaguars snapped their five-game losing streak at Lucas Oil Stadium with a 31-21 win in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts.
After two first half touchdowns, the Jaguars took a 14-7 lead into halftime. But third quarter miscues gave Indianapolis room to take a 21-17 lead before the start of the fourth quarter.
Buy Jaguars TicketsThose mistakes included a wacky play where a Trevor Lawrence fumble was recovered by Tank Bigsby, who stood still on what he thought was a dead-ball play. Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin punched the ball free from Bigsby’s hands and it was recovered by DeForest Buckner for an Indianapolis touchdown.
The Jaguars needed a clutch 48-yard punt return from Jamal Agnew followed by a 10-play touchdown drive to snatch the lead back with just over five minutes left in the game. Then Tyson Campbell and Travis Etienne Jr. combined to put the game to bed with an interception followed by a touchdown.
Here’s how it all went down in the Jaguars’ regular season opener:
Jaguars MVP of the game: WR Calvin Ridley
The Colts secondary flat-out couldn’t cover Ridley in the first half Sunday.
The highly anticipated debut of the receiver the Jaguars traded for during the 2022 season didn’t disappoint. Ridley caught the first touchdown of the game and season for Jacksonville, and finished the day with eight receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Even after a slow second half, Ridley may have been underselling it when he told Jaguars fans he’d be a 1,400-yard receiver for the team.
Colts MVP of the game: LB Zaire Franklin
Franklin played a huge hand — literally — in the play that gave the Colts their first lead of the game. The linebacker alertly punched the ball from Tank Bigsby’s hands, freeing up DeForest Buckner for a touchdown.
That was far from his only play of the day, though.
Franklin was credited with 19 total tackles on the day, nearly double any other player in the game.
Jaguars play of the game: Trevor Lawrence to Zay Jones 18-yard touchdown
Unreal effort from @zayjones11 😯
📺: #JAXvsIND on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/lvRZMAdxYR— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023
After the Colts pulled even in the first half, the Jaguars got back out in front on the scoreboard before halftime when Lawrence found Zay Jones in the end zone.
Lawrence trusted Jones to beat his man down the right sideline and the latter made a spectacular play to corral the ball and get a knee down in bounds with hardly any room to spare.
It was over when ... Tyson Campbell intercepted Anthony Richardson
The Bulldog picks off the Gator.@tysoncampbell_ | @GeorgiaFootball pic.twitter.com/FdsdMTphSY
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 10, 2023
Just a couple plays after the Jaguars took back the lead with a fourth quarter touchdown drive, Campbell handed the ball right back to the offense with an interception.
The third-year cornerback, who is rapidly ascending into an elite player at the position, sat back in his zone and went up to catch an under thrown ball from Richardson.
Jacksonville took advantage of the short field and put the game on ice with a Travis Etienne Jr. touchdown.
Stat that says it all: Colts 2-12 on 3rd down, 1-5 on 4th down
Most have expected the Jaguars offense to lead the way in 2023, but it was the defense that saved the day.
While they didn’t exactly stop the Colts offense in its tracks, the Jacksonville defense simply kept finding a way to get off the field. Indianapolis couldn’t convert any of its three fourth down tries and managed to move the chains on only one third down.
What's next?
The 1-0 Jaguars will be in EverBank Stadium for a home opener against the 0-1 Kansas City Chiefs.
Last year, the Chiefs beat the Jaguars once in November and then again in a playoff game in January. Kansas City went on to win Super Bowl LVII, but the team opened its 2023 slate with a 21-20 loss on Thursday.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 17 with television coverage on CBS.
