The Indianapolis Colts started with the ball against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Joe Flacco led an opening touchdown drive.
Running back Trey Sermon did have a 15-yard run that put the Colts in the red zone, but the bulk of Indianapolis’ success came through the passing game.
Flacco finished the drive by completing 7-of-7 passes for 75 yards with a touchdown pass on fourth down from the Jacksonville one-yard line.
After not being able to punch the ball across the goal line against what has been a stingy Jacksonville run defense, the Colts ran a play-action pass on fourth-down, got Flacco rolling to his left, and he found Michael Pittman at the goal line.
4th and goal? Find MPJ.
đź“ş CBS pic.twitter.com/ksnhlPCCvv
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 6, 2024
As was the case last week, Josh Downs was a favorite target of Flacco’s, catching three passes for 43 yards on the drive.
As we discussed in our key matchups preview, while the run game can’t be forgotten about, there is the opportunity for the Colts passing game to get going in this game with them facing a Jaguars secondary that is allowing 7.7 yards per pass, which ranks 30th this season.
This opening drive last 12 plays, went for 71 yards and lasted 6:11, giving the Colts the early 7-0 lead.