Jaguars @ Colts
The Indianapolis Colts locked up a playoff spot on Sunday defeating the Jaguars 28-14, lead by a career day for Jonathan Taylor. With the Jaguars locking up the first overall pick in the draft, the Jaguars saw a top-notch performance for a rookie of their own with two touchdown receptions by Laviska Shenault.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Quarterback
Mike Glennon: 26/42, 261 yards, 2 TDs, 6 sacks | 1 carry, 2 yards
In the final game of the season, Mike Glennon was forced to throw the ball more than Jacksonville likely hoped by having to catch up to Indianapolis. He capped off this day with two touchdown passes to Laviska Shenault Jr., including one in the corner off of play-action inside the 10-yard line. Impressively, he did not turn the ball over while dealing with constant pressure from the Indianapolis defense.
Shenault again ⬇️#FantasyFootball | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/2hEn093OT8
— QB List (@TheQBlist) January 3, 2021
Running Backs
Dare Ogunbowale: 14 carries, 50 yards | 7 targets, 4 receptions, 22 yards
With the injury to rookie James Robinson, the backfield fell into the hands of Dare Ogunbowale. He looked pretty decent against a tough Indianapolis defense, though the game script quickly turned against the running game once Indianapolis went up big early on. That did not take away from Ounbowale’s production, however, as Glennon was more than willing to dump the ball off to him out of the backfield. As long as James Robinson is in town, Ogunbowale is an afterthought with some upside in Jacksonville’s backfield.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Chris Conley: 9 targets, 7 receptions, 87 yards
Laviska Shenault Jr.: 9 targets, 6 receptions, 68 yards, 2 TDs
Terry Godwin: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 32 yards
Keelan Cole Sr.: 7 targets, 3 receptions, 23 yards
Tyler Eifert: 2 targets, 1 reception, 10 yards
With the Jaguars needing to come back in this game, the game script quickly turned to the passing game which created a great game for Laviska Shenault Jr. He had two touchdown receptions inside the 10-yard line, ending his season on a really high note with five or more catches in each of his last four games and three touchdowns in his final two.
Laviska Shenault for 6️⃣#FantasyFootball | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/T1v9rA2HJZ
— QB List (@TheQBlist) January 3, 2021
Along with Shenualt, the absence of DJ Chark caused a real great game for Chris Conley, who was very efficient with his targets both in short-yardage situations and down the field. On the other hand, Keelan Cole was a bit quiet this game as he and Glennon could not get into any sort of rhythm, with Glennon overthrowing Cole a few times while being slightly inaccurate on others.
Indianapolis Colts
Quarterback
Philip Rivers: 17/27, 164 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT | 2 carries, -2 yards
Philip Rivers had himself a bit of a quiet game on Sunday, as the game script quickly flipped to the run game as it became clear that Jonathan Taylor was simply dominating the Jaguars. Rivers was more comfortable with the shorter passes, including an interception and a touchdown pass down at the goalline for T.Y. Hilton slanting over the middle. Otherwise, not much was happening for Rivers.
Running Backs
Jonathan Taylor: 30 carries, 253 yards, 2 TD | 2 targets, 1 reception, 1 yard
Nyheim Hines: 2 carries, 17 yards | 7 targets, 6 receptions, 50 yards
While Nyheim Hines had himself a nice game and looked really good out of the backfield in the passing game, this game was all about Jonathan Taylor. Taylor broke off many long runs in a dream matchup and had great protection from his offensive line. With his effectiveness, the game script was quite clear and head coach Frank Reich continued to lead on his number one back, with Taylor heading into the playoffs off the best game of his career.
Jonathan Taylor through the first 20 minutes today:
• 11 carries
• 121 yards
• 1 TD#FantasyFootball | #ForTheShoe pic.twitter.com/8hifu0IhGg— QB List (@TheQBlist) January 3, 2021
Jonathan Taylor 🤯
2 TDs & over 240 rushing yards.#FantasyFootball | #ForTheShoe pic.twitter.com/iZhQkiZWPW
— QB List (@TheQBlist) January 4, 2021
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Zach Pascal: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 41 yards
Michael Pittman Jr. 2 targets, 2 receptions, 28 yards
T.Y. Hilton: 7 targets, 3 receptions, 27 yards, 1 TD
Jack Doyle: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 17 yards
With the effectiveness of the run game, Rivers did not need to lean on his pass-catchers that often. When he did, his top target was T.Y. Hilton who saw some shorter receptions including his touchdown. Zach Pascal didn’t do much of anything in this one after catching three touchdowns in his last two games, disappointing some fantasy managers who took a shot on him in DFS lineups. With the shorter routes that Rivers liked on Sunday, he was more than willing to take the shorter passes to Jack Doyle in order to move the chains and allow them to get back to their run game. Finally, we saw another quiet game for Michael Pittman Jr., who only saw two targets with Rivers looking more to his more trusted options in key situations.
— Callen Elslager (@callen_elslager on Twitter and Reddit)