On Sunday, the New York Jets take on the Indianapolis Colts. The question remains, “Which team will show up?”
Entering this season, the New York Jets knew they had to improve on their 6-10 record at MetLife Stadium over the last two seasons. On Sunday, they will be playing their second of a three-game homestand as they take on the Indianapolis Colts.
Next weekend, they’ll face the tough Minnesota Vikings.
Jets and Colts Share a Long History
The Jets have a very interesting history against the Colts. In fact, the Colts were the last team that the Jets hosted a playoff game against. After winning the AFC East for just the second and last time in franchise history in 2002, the Jets defeated the Colts 41-0 in the Wild Card Round. The Jets were the only team in Manning’s 27 career playoff games that shut him out.
The Jets also defeated the then Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl 3, 16-7. The Jets and Colts both played in the AFC East after the merger in 1970. The two teams played each other twice a year from 1970 until the NFL redesigned the divisions in 2002 and the Colts moved to the AFC South.
Colts 2018 Season Results
The Colts will enter MetLife Stadium on Sunday having lost three straight games. The Colts defense has allowed 138 points so far this season which ranks 27th in the NFL. They have allowed 1,413 passing yards this season which ranks 28th in the NFL.
Indianapolis has struggled running the ball. They rank last in the AFC and 29th overall in attempts (101) yards (372) and are one of five teams that have 1 or fewer rushing TD.
Andrew Luck's History Against the Jets
Andrew Luck will be making his fourth start against the Jets. Luck was the number one draft pick for the Colts in 2012 after they suffered through a 2-14 season in 2011 when Peyton Manning missed the season with a neck injury. Luck’s only career win against the Jets came in 2016 at MetLife Stadium when the Colts defeated the Jets 41-10 on Monday Night Football.
The Jets are one of just four teams to have held Luck and the Colts under 10 points and the only team that has done that twice in his 75 career starts (defeated them 35-9 in 2012 and 21-7 in 2015 at Indianapolis).
In his first two games against the Jets, Luck completed just 43-81 passes (53.1 percent) while throwing 1 TD and 5 INT. In his only win against the Jets, Luck completed 22-28 (78.6 percent) while throwing 4 TD and 0 INT.
Not So Lucky in 2018
Luck has thrown the ball more than any QB in the NFL this season. He leads the NFL in attempts (245) and completions (163). Despite that, he ranks 14th in passing yards (1,491) and ranks last in the NFL (min. 100 attempts) in both yards per attempt (6.1) and yards per completion (9.1).
Jets Rushing Attack Excels, Darnold Improves
The Jets ran for their second highest total in franchise history last Sunday when they totaled 323 yards against the Broncos. After struggling in his previous three games (69 yards on 32 carries over that span, an average of 2.2 YPC) Isaiah Crowell set the franchise record for most rushing yards in a game when he ran for 219 yards on 15 carries. He became just the second player in NFL history to run for at least 200 yards with 15 or fewer carries.
Sam Darnold threw for a career-high three touchdowns last week. He has thrown for at least 1 TD in four of his five games in 2018. After completing 66.2 percent (41-62) of his passes in the first two games, Darnold has struggled a bit with his accuracy since. In his last three games, Darnold has completed just 48.3 percent of his pass attempts (43-87).
Robby Anderson Is Dangerous
Against the Broncos, Robby Anderson continued his impressive streak of catching long touchdown passes. Anderson caught touchdown passes from a career-high 76 yards and 35 yards, giving him three receiving touchdowns on the season that average 50.1 yards. In his career, he has averaged 41.1 YPC on his 12 touchdown receptions. Anderson recorded his first 100-yard game of the season last week.
Jets Defense Is Forcing Turnovers
The Jets have forced 11 turnovers in their first five games, ranking fourth in the NFL entering Week 6. Although they have forced at least one turnover in four of five games this season, they have just forced six in last four games. They forced five turnovers in their Week 1 win at Detroit.
Despite ranking fourth in the NFL in the first five weeks, they are nowhere near the team record for most turnovers forced in their first five games of the season. Amazingly this is the 28th time that the Jets have forced at least 11 turnovers in their first five games. The franchise record is 19 set in 1963.
Jets Playing 3 Straight At Home
This marks just the sixth time since 1998 that the Jets will play three straight home games. They have never won all three games. Once they won two games, three times they won one game and once they went winless.
