Can the Colts still qualify?
This Sunday will decide whether a team from the AFC South can still secure a place in the knockout round of the NFL in the match between Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts. However, only the Colts have that chance, the team from Jacksonville is in last place with two wins to fourteen losses, which also makes the upcoming encounter the Jaguars’ last game of the current season.
In contrast, the team from Indianapolis still has a realistic chance of making it into the NFL Play Offs as a Wild Card. With a win or even a draw, the Colts are definitely one round away, but if they lose the upcoming game, their seeding depends on the other matchups in the AFC.
In the Jacksonville Jaguars vs Indianapolis Colts game, however, our prediction is that it is not very likely that the Colts will leave their place in the Play Offs to chance. We even believe that the Colts can win both halves, as the odds on the Jaguars vs. the Colts are very low. The bookmakers therefore also consider a victory for the team from Indianapolis to be extremely likely.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Statistics & current form
Currently, it looks like the Jacksonville Jaguars are the worst team in the entire NFL. They lost their last eight games in a row and also walked off the field as the clear loser last game day against the New England Patriots with a score of 50:10 with a 40-point difference.
For the upcoming match-up between Jaguars and Colts, however, even a bet on a (higher) handicap for the Colts is realistic, as the team around rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence has surrendered the most turnovers in the entire league.
Lawrence not quite NFL ready yet?
Just 17 of Lawrence’s 29 turnovers have come as interceptions, and no other quarterback has thrown the ball to opposing defenders as often as he has this season.
Additionally, Lawrence will be under even more pressure come game day as his O-line is weakened by lapses. Centre Brandon Linder as well as left tackle Cam Robinson and right tackle/guard Will Richardson Jr. will miss the final regular-season NFL game day due to positive test results.
Key Players:
QB: Trevor Lawrence
RB: Dare Ogunbowale
WR: Marvin Jones Jr.
WR: Laquon Treadwell
LB: Josh Allen
Indianapolis Colts – stats & current form
Coming into the upcoming game as clear favourites against the Jaguars, they are second in the AFC South with nine wins and seven losses. However, this alone is not enough to earn them a place in the knockout round of the NFL, so a win or at least a draw is needed on the final day of play for the Colts to safely advance to the next round.
However, there is a big qualitative difference between the teams in the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts game, so our prediction is also a clear win for the away team. Because the Colts have to advance to the Wild Card round, they will not take any risks and will not spare any of their star players. However, it could happen that they will only play the last quarter with the second string if they can achieve a sufficient lead by then.
The strongest running back in the league?
Currently, the Colts’ running back Jonathan Taylor is almost unstoppable in his second year in the NFL. In total, he accounted for 18 touchdowns alone and gained 1,734 yards in 317 attempts, all stats in which he leads the league. He also ranks among the NFL’s best at seventh with an average of 5.5 yards per run.
Key Players:
QB: Carson Wentz
RB: Jonathan Taylor
WR: T.Y. Hilton
LB: Darius Leonard
LB: Bobby Okereke
Jacksonville Jaguars – Indianapolis Colts Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
While the Jacksonville team has given up the most balls to their opponents so far this season, the Indianapolis defence has been able to recover the ball 33 times, which is currently the season high along with the Dalls Cowboys.
So more than 1.5 interceptions from Trevor Lawrence in the Jaguars vs Colts game are quite interesting odds. Also, the Jaguars have been beaten for the eighth game in a row in their current slump in form, and things don’t look too rosy for the final game of the season either.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Indianapolis Colts Tip
The favourites in the Jacksonville Jaguars vs Indianapolis Colts are clearly the latter. However, betting on the Colts to win only yields lower odds. Handicap bets or over/under bets are much more interesting in this encounter.
We also believe that Jonathan Taylor will continue to perform at his usual peak. For this reason, our value bet is also on the running back’s rushing yards. Although he did not break the 115.5 mark on the last two game days, with the Las Vegas Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals, the opponents were clearly stronger than the upcoming Jacksonville Jaguars.
