Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts: Three keys to a victory in week 7

Find a reliable passing threat

I’m not going to take this time to detail the shortcomings of Blake Bortles. We know what he is, and the Jaguars know what he is. But it is vital that Bortles finds a way to lead a functioning passing game.

To see how important the need for a serviceable passing offense is, you don’t have to look further than last Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. Despite the multitude of errors on special teams, the Jaguars spent almost the entire second-half only trailing by seven and with numerous opportunities to tie the game up. But when the Rams defense contained Leonard Fournette and the running game, Bortles and the offense could not put together a single second-half touchdown drive using the passing game.

Without bringing a legitimate passing threat to the table, opponents are starting to stack the box with eight and nine man fronts against Jacksonville, and running successfully for an extended period of time in the face of that is a daunting task for any team.

Needing the passing game to show up will be especially key this Sunday given the uncertainty of how healthy Leonard Fournette actually is right now. Fournette says he ready to play, but given he has missed practice all week, it is clear that he is not 100%. Even though the Jaguars have had a nice balance of rotating the running backs, and Chris Ivory has done really well as a reliever, not having a fully healthy Fournette means Jacksonville will have to attack the Colts through the air.

The Jaguars don’t have a menacing passing threat, but Jacksonville needs to attack Indianapolis through the air on Sunday to keep the offense moving.