a little ahead of themselves. It has been quite sometime that the team has gone on a meaningful winning streak https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Braden-Smith-Jersey , since its quarterback has been so well protected, and since that same quarterback had put on an MVP-level performance that started to generate national attention. There has been a whole lot of positive in Indianapolis over the last five weeks.Coming into the game, we noted that the two franchises had opposite trajectories. Jacksonville has been crushed by disappointment this season, after making it to the AFC Championship game earlier in the year. The wheels all started coming off earlier in the week, or so it seemed, after they fired their offensive coordinator, demoted their starting quarterback, placed their biggest free agent investment on injured reserve, and saw their biggest offensive weapon lose an appeal for a one-game suspension after fighting against the Bills.None of that mattered on Sunday. In the Week 10 home meeting against Jacksonville, Indianapolis put on a devastating offensive show in the first half that culminated in 29 points. It turned out that this was all the team needed to win the game, but the Colts were shutout in the second half and required a late forced fumble to escape without overtime. Throw in yesterday’s meeting and Frank Reich and Indianapolis has gone six straight quarters without scoring against the Jaguars.This kind of performance cannot become an ongoing characteristic. Reich and his staff had the luxury of entering the 2018 season as relative unknowns. New systems are often successful early because opposing coaches don’t have a reliable way to game plan. This advantage goes away quickly, especially in the division where there are two meetings a year.Whatever Jacksonville did to answer Reich’s offense at half time in Week 10 was effective. It has continued to be effective. Indianapolis didn’t have an answer to those changes at kickoff on Sunday and they exited the locker room after half time without answers. This has to change.It’s true, this Colts offense is tougher to face because it is “multiple.” Reich isn’t afraid to use a lot of weapons or targets in a variety of ways. However, the offense does have clear tendencies — some of them are to a fault. Over the last couple of weeks, those tendencies have been easy to predict. If Colts fans have a pretty good idea what the offense is going to do and the fan base can tell you it is one of a few options, NFL defenses know that too.Don’t get me wrong, the Colts have still met or exceeded any reasonable expectations for the team to this point in the season. In fact, there are games earlier in the season that would have or possibly should have gone the other way. Injuries early in the year may have had an impact on outcomes and put Indianapolis in a hole that it will struggle to fight its way out of. All things considered, sitting at 6-6 after a 1-5 start is still good. If you want to split the season into pieces, Indianapolis went 1-5 to start the season losing some close games. Since then the team is 5-1 and had only one awful performance. If Indianapolis started 5-1 and had only one dud performance, fans would still feel pretty good.Let’s revisit the keys to the game and see how the Colts failed to capitalize in a must-win road divisional game.WIN UP FRONTThis didn’t happen. Luck took three official sacks, another that was called off due to a defensive penalty, and took nine hits. He was harassed in the pocket Jabaal Sheard Jersey , had to step up and scramble regularly, and was never able to get into any kind of rhythm. The offensive line wasn’t all to blame. Some of the shots he took were the result of excellent coverage and holding the ball for too long. Still, since Ryan Kelly has gone down with an injury, things have been different. Losing Jack Doyle didn’t help either. It’s incredible how people forget the little things players do until they are gone. TORMENT KESSLERThe defense did a reasonable job of making life difficult for Cody Kessler. 3 sacks and 7 quarterback hits tell part of the story but his 5 runs were also due to collapsing pockets. All 3 sacks, another hit, and two forced fumbles were credited to defensive tackle Denico Autry but numerous pass rushers were able to impact plays. The Jaguars averaged under 3 yards per carry, the defense allowed only six points, and Kessler threw for only 150 yards.MAINTAIN BALANCE ON OFFENSEThis key was an abject failure. At no time in the game were the Colts in a pass only situation. While it is true that the running game had its share of struggles, the play-calling left a lot to be desired. The Colts threw the ball 52 times to only 16 runs. Against the Jaguars. In a six point game.Perhaps the most effective running back on the roster against this style of defense could have been Jordan Wilkins. He has the most size, has a knack for getting the most out of small windows, and doesn’t go down at first contact on every play. I get that he has had a couple of key fumbles and maybe he is on the dog house, but if Mack isn’t the answer and Hines can’t get anything going, maybe giving Wilkins a few carries is a better option than becoming one-dimensional altogether.WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLEThe Colts lost the turnover battle by throwing an interception and losing a fumble. On the first drive of the game, Indianapolis forced a fumble and recovered it in Jacksonville territory. All three of the offense’s fourth down attempts failed. All of these failures were within field range, two were in the red zone.The Colts lost 0 - 6.CATCH THE DAMN BALLWhile Colts receivers were not perfect for the day, most of the dropped passes had as much to do with contested or off-target throws than clear failures to make a clean catch. T.Y. Hilton and Eric Ebron led the way in targets and were unable to come down with the ball on 5 and 6 of those targets, respectively. Dontrelle Inman caught 2 passes on 6 targets and Ryan Grant didn’t score a reception in his 2 targets. He unofficially caught 2 passes that were called off due to penalties. One was an offensive pass interference and the other who a stupid illegal shift call. The Colts’ performance against the Cowboys was arguably their strongest of the season, with all facets of the team performing at a high level. The Dallas Cowboys were the hottest team in the NFL, winning their last five games, including a win against the Saints. The Colts shut them down on both sides of the ball and even added a blocked field goal on special teams to add an extra whammy on the game. Marlon Mack lead the way on the ground with 27 carries for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns. TY Hilton lead the way in the passing game with 5 catches for 85 yards including a couple of fantastic catches. The Colts had a tough time stopping Ezekiel Elliott, but when they took a double-digit lead, the Cowboys were forced to pass more, which hindered his impact. He finished the game with 18 carries for 87 yards and 7 catches for 41 yards. The win moves the Colts to 8-6 and keeps them right in the middle of the playoff hunt. They’ll play the Giants next week followed by what’s looking to be a massive season finale matchup against the Titans. Defense Was in Bend Don’t Break ModeThe defense allowed a lot of yards and had to defend against some long drives early in the game Pierre Desir Color Rush Jersey , but they played a stout bend-don’t-break style of defense. In the first quarter, the Colts had a massive goal line stand after a long Cowboys drive. In the second quarter, the Cowboys bled the clock for half the quarter, but the Colts stood strong at the beginning of field goal range and forced the Cowboys to punt. They allowed 159 yards on three drives in the first half, but did not break. Even though the Cowboys held the ball for over 19 minutes in the first half, the Colts allowed no points. It was a very strong defensive performance and their bend-don’t-break mentality in the first half set the tone for a strong overall game. Ryan Kelly’s Return was HugeRyan Kelly’s return sparked a resurgence in the Colts’ running game. Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines had 158 yards on the ground on 33 carries. It’s worth noting that the 4.8 yards per carry doesn’t do the stat justice as the Colts ran the ball most of the time in the latter portion of the 3rd quarter and essentially the entire 4th quarter against a Cowboys defense that stacked the box to stop the run (knowing the Colts were only going to run it with a 20+ point lead). It’s no surprise that Ryan Kelly was often seen opening holes and leading the way for many blocks. There was one play in the 1st half where he pulled and lead blocked for Mack on a 15 yard run, but it was called back because of a bad penalty call. Kelly’s return paid major dividends in the running game.In the passing game, the Colts allowed no sacks and while Luck did feel pressure on several occasions, it’s worth noting that the Cowboys have one of the best front sevens and pass rushers in the NFL, so that would definitely be considered a big win for Kelly and the big boys up front. Balanced Attack Was Key to Strong Play on OffenseThe Colts finished the game with more rushes than pass attempts, and the balance, especially in the entire first half and 3rd quarter were instrumental in the Colts’ victory. By utilizing a balanced attack, they were able to effectively move the ball the entire game against a strong defense. It made third downs easier (they went 8 for 12 on third downs) because they kept the yardage very manageable. Colts Secondary Shut Down Amari CooperAmari Cooper was setting the league on fire. In his last three games, Cooper had 26 catches for 473 yards and 5 touchdowns. Against the Colts, Cooper had only 4 catches for 32 yards and a rush for 11 yards. You can call that a shutdown. The Colts mixed up a few different defensive backs against him, but Desir got a lot of action against him. The Colts, especially on passing downs, shadowed Malik Hooker over the top to ensure that Cooper would not take the lid off the defense. Stopping Cooper was instrumental in stopping Dak Prescott and the Cowboys passing game as their other receivers (Gallup, Hurns and Beasley), failed to separate themselves from the pesky Colts secondary and all had sub-par performances.