Four takeaways: Playoff hopes slip away for Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Coming off a bye week, the Jaguars went to Indianapolis and got bullied by the Colts in a 33-13 loss. The Jaguars saw a pair of Colts running backs go over the 100-yard mark and likely saw their postseason hopes disappear. Here were my four biggest takeaways from Sunday’s game:

Not physical enough

The Jaguars after giving up 216 rushing yards to the Texans in London before the bye week, the Jaguars watched the Colts run for 264 yards. On a day when Indianapolis was without two of their top wide receivers, T.Y. Hinton and Pariss Campbell, you knew they wanted to get things going on the ground with Marlon Mack. The Jaguars didn’t respond. The Colts offensive line pushed the Jaguars defensive front around all game long. The Jaguars clearly miss Marcell Dareus, who is out for the rest of the year after being placed on injured reserve last month.

Terrible tackling

About once per season, every team has a bad day of tackling. Sunday was that day for the Jaguars. On Mack’s touchdown run, three Jaguars missed tackles. In the fourth quarter, Jonathan Williams, who entered the game with only two carries all season, ran for 48 yards when two Jaguars’ missed tackles. The Colts had the perfect situation in the second half. A lead against a team that couldn’t stop the run. It’s a recipe for an easy win.

Foles’ return and Fournette’s usage

Foles looked sharp early on, but as the game progressed, he made some ill-advised passes into double-coverage. Was it rust? Was it a lack of confidence in any receiver other than DJ Chark? Foles appeared to press in his return to the lineup. It’s not what the Jaguars’ brass envisioned when they made the decision to go back to Foles. I think it was the right decision for the rest of the year.

Playoffs out of reach

The loss drops the Jaguars to 4-6 on the season. If they run the table, an unlikely notion, they would finish at 10-6, but with four losses to AFC teams, including three in the division, the Jaguars chances of winning a tie-breaker situation are faint. While they aren’t mathematically eliminated from contention, I don’t see a road to the Jaguars making the playoffs, either by winning the division or as a wild-card team.