JACKSONVILLE – The streak ended at long last.
The Jaguars won for the first time in more than two months on Sunday, doing so with one of the most impressive defensive performances in recent franchise history.
Josh Lambo kicked two field goals – a 30-yarder in the second quarter and a 37-yarder in the fourth – and the Jaguars shut down one of the NFL's hottest offenses in a 6-0 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in front of an announced 67,030 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville Sunday.
The Jaguars clinched the victory with a pair of key late plays.
Jaguars rookie safety Ronnie Harrison, making his first career start, sacked Colts quarterback Andrew Luck on fourth-and-1 from the Jaguars 19 with 2:38 remaining and the Jaguars leading, 6-0.
After the Colts forced a Jaguars punt, Indianapolis drove to the Jaguars 29. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey tackled Colts tight end Eric Swoope at the 25, with officials ruling that Swoope was down in bounds.
The clock ran out to end the game.
The Colts (6-6) entered the game averaging 33.1 points in their last eight games, having won five consecutive games. The Colts had 265 yards offense Sunday to 211 for the Jaguars.
The Jaguars (4-8) snapped a seven-game losing streak, last having won when they beat the New York Jets by a score of 31-12 at TIAA Bank Field on September 30.
Luck, who entered the game having thrown at least three touchdown passes in his last eight games, completed 32 of 51 passes for 244 yards and no touchdowns with one interception. Luck completed 15 of 26 passes for 87 yards and no touchdowns with an interception in the first half.
Cody Kessler, making his first start at quarterback for the Jaguars, completed 18 of 24 passes for 150 yards and no touchdowns with no interceptions. Kessler, who replaced longtime starter Blake Bortles in the lineup Monday, completed eight of 12 passes in the first half.
The teams combined for 205 first-half yards, after which the Jaguars led 3-0 on a 30-yard field goal 2:03 before halftime. The Jaguars outgained the Colts, 108-97, in the half; Jacksonville also stopped a 62-yard drive by the Colts at the Jaguars 1 early in the quarter.
Jaguars running backs combined for 52 yards and no touchdowns on 21 carries. The Jaguars were playing without second-year running back Leonard Fournette, who rushed for 95 yards each of the last two games. Carlos Hyde led the Jaguars with 36 yards rushing on 13 carries
Fournette on Sunday served a one-game suspension for his actions in multiplayer fight in a loss at Buffalo last Sunday.
The Jaguars sacked Luck three times, with defensive end Yannick Ngakoue sacking Luck in the first half and defensive end Calais Campbell sacking him in the second half. The duo is tied for the team lead with seven sacks this season. Harrison's late-game sack on Luck was the team's third of the game.
Step by step:
*The teams exchanged takeaways on the first two possessions, with Hyde losing a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Andrew Walker on the game's first possession and Jaguars nickel back D.J. Hayden intercepting Luck to end the Colts' first drive. Both teams struggled offensively in the quarter, with a Colts drive toward the end of the quarter the first sustained by either team. That drive reached the Jaguars 1, but Ngakoue stopped Colts running back Jordan Wilkins at the 1 on a 4th-and-goal-from-the-2 shovel pass. Jaguars unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties on safety Ronnie Harrison and defensive lineman Taven Bryan twice extended the drive. …
*The Jaguars took a 3-0 lead with a 30-yard field goal by Lambo with 2:03 remaining in the second quarter; the Jaguars drove 43 yards on 13 plays, with the drive beginning when linebacker Myles Jack recovered a fumble by tight end Eric Ebron forced by linebacker Telvin Smith on 4th-and-1 from the Jaguars 31. The half ended with the Jaguars leading 3-0.
*Lambo's 37-yard field goal with 11:42 remaining in the game came after a scoreless third quarter, giving the Jaguars a 6-0 lead.
Notable:Ramsey played Sunday after missing practice Wednesday and Thursday with a knee injury; Ramsey has started the first 44 games of his NFL career; he had two passes defenses, and his 10 career games with multiple passes defensed is the most through three seasons in franchise history. … With a first-half sack, Ngakoue joined Jevin Kearse, Von Miller, Julius Peppers, John Abraham, DeMarcus Ware and Dwight Freeney as the only players since 1993 to register at least 27.0 sacks and 10 forced fumbles through their first 44 career games. … Rookie safety Ronnie Harrison made his first career start, replacing strong safety Barry Church in the lineup. … Ereck Flowers made a third consecutive start at left tackle for Josh Walker, with Patrick Omameh starting at left guard for Chris Reed. Andrew Norwell, the starting left guard in the first 11 games of the season, was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury this week. … Jaguars inactives Sunday: rookie wide receiver DJ Chark Jr. (quadriceps), rookie cornerback Quenton Meeks (knee), linebacker Blair Brown, nose tackle Eli Ankou, linebacker Lerentee McCray (hamstring) and offensive lineman Josh Walker (foot/ankle) and cornerback Tre Herndon (ankle). … Abry Jones started at nose tackle for Marcell Dareus with Dareus starting at defensive tackle in place of Malik Jackson. …
Injury report: Kessler was evaluated for a concussion in the first quarter and cleared to return. … Defensive tackle Abry Jones sustained a shin contusion in the third quarter and did not return. … Right tackle Jermey Parnell left in the third quarter with a foot injury and returned early in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars' offensive line in his absence: Omameh at right tackle, right guard A.J. Cann, center Tyler Shatley, left guard Chris Reed and Flowers at left tackle; of those five, only Cann started Week 1.
What's next:The Jaguars are scheduled to play the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday at 8:20 p.m.
