First place in the AFC South is on the line Sunday when the 8-4 Colts take on the 8-4 Jaguars. The betting line says the Colts are a 1.5-point favorite. But the game is being played in Jacksonville, where recent history shows the Colts find a way to lose.
The Jaguars have won 10 straight home games against the Colts, an odd streak considering the Colts have often been the better team but somehow managed to lose games they should have won.
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The streak, which includes nine games in Jacksonville and one in London, has become something Colts fans hate to hear in the week leading up to their annual road game against the Jaguars, but it’s impossible to ignore as a big factor in a big Sunday game.
The last time the Colts won in Jacksonville was 2014 and the starting quarterbacks were Andrew Luck and Blake Bortles. The following year, when the Colts played in Jacksonville, they led 13-9 at halftime, then had one of the worst second halves in NFL history, getting outscored 42-3 only to lose by a final score of 51-16. This started an ugly streak for the Colts.
The highest-scoring game of the streak came in Week 18 of the 2021 season. The Colts only needed to win to qualify for the playoffs. The Jaguars only needed to lose to land the first overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. With that kind of incentive, it seemed impossible for the Colts to lose, which is why Indianapolis was a 15-point favorite. Instead, it was the Jaguars who won by 15, a 26-11 shocker that was one of the biggest upsets in recent NFL history.
The Colts haven’t made the playoffs since missing that opportunity. This season they have a great chance. Especially if they finally manage to break their losing streak in Jacksonville on Sunday.
