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Halloween has passed, but the Duval demons continue to haunt the Indianapolis Colts.
Indianapolis’ rough week got worse on Sunday, as their season officially went down the drain in Jacksonville with a demoralizing 42-7 loss to the Jaguars. The Colts remain winless in Jacksonville since 2014, and now their unlikely chances to win the AFC South are over.
Although there weren’t many, there were some bright spots among the hideousness of the performance. Let’s take a look at just some of the good, the bad and the ugly.
CJ Allen made his first career start Sunday, at long last after dealing with various injuries to begin his NFL career. Once he finally made it onto the field, he instantly showed why he’s a player the Colts can build around moving forward.
Allen recorded 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack, all team-highs. It took a while to see results, but the rookie is showing that he’s capable of being a starter moving forward.
The light at the end of the tunnel is way too far away to see it at this point, but at least Indianapolis has someone to help get it through the darkness.
Indianapolis seems to have another defender who can contribute moving forward. Second-year edge defender Jaylahn Tuimoloau had easily the best game of his career up to this point, logging his first career sack.
On top of the sack, Tuimoloau made some plays in the run game and created some other pressures, too. Refreshing to see a Colts edge player finally step up and make an impact this season.
The Colts’ rookie class has shown some solid potential, including Seth McGowan.
The stats aren’t too pretty—five carries for 29 yards—but McGowan made some nice blocks in pass protection and had a couple nice, hard runs.
Seems sad that a performance like Sunday’s means a running back with less than 30 yards is one of the better things on the field. And it is. But if Jonathan Taylor is traded in the near future as expected, McGowan has absolutely earned the opportunity to be the lead back for the rest of 2026.
Like many who follow the Colts, Josh Downs is fed up. The 25-year-old requested a trade earlier this week and officially checked out once doing so.
Sunday was beyond bad for Downs, despite being responsible for the Colts’ only points on the day. His effort was appalling, summed up no better than buy his first half blunder that lead to a turnover.
The Jaguars get the takeaway and are back in business at midfield.
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 1, 2026
📺CBS & Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/ComkyGwMGp
The Colts decided to run an end around, with Jonathan Taylor taking the initial pitch before tossing it back to Downs to take it the other direction. But Taylor slipped, tossed the ball a little too high and fast and watched it bounce off Downs’ face mask and onto the ground.
The problem? Downs didn’t even attempt to jump on the loose ball. There is no better evidence that he’s ready to get out of Indianapolis.
Tyler Warren’s return from a two-game absence was anything but ideal.
The second-year tight end caught four passes for a meager 18 yards and was the culprit responsible for Jacksonville’s pick-six, as Daniel Jones’ pass bounced off his hands and into the hands of Rayuan Lane III, who took it the distance.
The Jaguars with the pick-six right after turning over the ball!
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 1, 2026
📺CBS & Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/HuHMPpb0sv
It’s been a rough season for Warren, who hasn’t been able to replicate the impact he had as a rookie.
Unfortunately for Daniel Jones, his time as the Colts starter may be over.
Jones’ stat line is tough to look at: 19-for-28 for 144 yards, one touchdown pass and two interceptions (one pick-six). To make it worse for Jones, it isn’t all his fault. Receivers couldn’t separate and the Colts’ lack of a deep threat continued to severely limit what Indianapolis could try in the passing game. Jones averaged just 5.1 yards per completion.
With the Colts scoreless at halftime, head coach Shane Steichen could’ve easily made a change and pulled his quarterback. But he gave him a little bit of a longer leash, waiting until the fourth quarter to replace him with Anthony Richardson Sr.
Jones isn’t immune from any blame when it comes to Indy’s dreadful offense, but he’ll most likely end up taking the fall, despite never really having proper support around him.
It’s hard to fault Jonathan Taylor for his play today, as he’s done more than enough for the Colts throughout his time with the franchise. But he did make the ugly misstep that led to a back-breaking fumble.
In what was likely Taylor’s final game wearing the horseshoe, he touched the ball 12 times for only 47 yards and was understandably benched to preserve his health ahead of his inevitable trade out of Indianapolis. A tough way to go out for a guy who’s delivered so many awesome moments to the fan base.
I’ll give Shane Steichen a little bit of credit—he finally had the strength to make lineup changes when he pulled Jones, Taylor and Downs, albeit way too late in the game.
But the praise stops there. Steichen, likely coaching to save his job, sealed his own fate with the inexcusable all-around performance by his team.
Playcalling was suspect throughout, getting cute on the goal line the one time the offense progressed that far. While he did make the personnel switches, they were way too late. By halftime, with the game already decided, there was no reason not to give guys like Richardson, McGowan and Deion Burks a chance to show what they can do.
Taylor and Downs have one foot out the door and Jones gave no reason to still believe he can spark a comeback.
At this point there’s no coming back for Steichen, and the ball is in Carlie Irsay-Gordon’s court to make a decision on his future.
Special teams has been uncharacteristically poor for the Colts this season, particularly the kick return game, which can’t seem to execute cleanly.
Two excellent Seth McGowan kick returns were negated by holding penalties, an issue which has popped up unusually often this season. Still, McGowan managed over 100 kick return yards, and could’ve doubled that number had the Colts stayed out of their own way.
Unfortunate, but still not the main issue for Indianapolis down in Duval.
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