INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jacoby Brissett threw one touchdown pass, ran for another score and used an impressive ground game to get the Indianapolis Colts back on track Sunday with a 33-13 victory over Jacksonville.
The Colts (6-4) ended a two-game losing streak and pulled back into a tie with Houston for the AFC South lead.
Jacksonville (4-6) has lost four of six, this one coming despite the return of starting quarterback Nick Foles. He had missed the previous eight games with a broken left collarbone.
GALLERY | Colts win against Jaguars 33-13
And the Colts made it look easy with their tag-team ground game.
Marlon Mack carried 14 times for 109 yards and a touchdown before leaving in the third quarter with a hand injury. His replacement, Jonathan Williams, had 13 carries for 106 yards, the first 100-yard game of his career, and celebrated two long, fourth-quarter runs by giving himself up inbounds to keep the clock running. Nyheim Hines scored on a 7-yard run and Brissett scored on a 5-yard run.
It was the first time Indy had two 100-yard rushers in the same game since Oct. 6, 1985, and only the third time in franchise history —all against the Jags’ usually stingy defense.
But it sure didn’t start out that way.
Foles looked as though he was back in sync with a perfectly timed pass to DJ Chark Jr. on the Jaguars’ second series. Chark found a hole in the Colts’ defense and sprinted to the end zone for a 34-yard TD catch and a 7-0 lead.
Mack answered by spinning out of a tackle and running 13 yards to tie the score late in the first quarter.
Adam Vinatieri broke the tie with a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter and the Colts sealed the win with three second-half scores: Marcus Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-goal, Brissett’s TD run and Hines’ touchdown early in the fourth.
INJURY REPORT
Jaguars: Defensive end Lerentee McCray left in the first half with an injured hamstring, and tight end Josh Oliver left in the fourth quarter with a back injury.
Colts: Mack did not return after getting hurt. Rookie cornerback Rock Ya-Sin also did not return after limping off the field going straight to the locker room with an injured ankle in the third quarter.
STAT PACK
Jaguars: Foles was 33 of 47 with 296 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. ... Leonard Fournette carried eight times for 23 yards on a day Jacksonville rushed for only 29 yards. ... Chark caught six passes for 104 yards and both of the Jags’ TDs, the second coming on a 20-yard catch with 1:05 remaining.
Colts: Vinatieri broke Morten Andersen’s league record for field goal attempts in the first half and became the first Colts player to make 500 extra points and score more than 1,500. He has 710 field-goal attempts, one more than Andersen. He has made a league-record 597 field goals, scored a record 2,663 points and now has 1,505 since joining the Colts in 2016. ... Indy finished with a season-high point total. ... Bobby Okereke intercepted the Jags’ final conversion try and returned it for two points to close out the scoring. ... Brissett returned from a knee injury and went 15 of 24 with 148 yards, one TD and one interception.
BIG Q
All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson gave the Colts a real treat when he appeared to score on a 1-yard run in the third quarter.
The 330-pound offensive lineman celebrated with teammates gathering round and lifting him into the air. Then, following a replay review, the call was overturned.
Brissett threw to Johnson for the score on the next play.
UP NEXT
Jaguars: head to Tennessee for another key division game and their second straight road trip.
Colts: have a short week with a Thursday trip to Houston and a chance to retake full possession of the division lead.
