Luck, Colts roll past Jags
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Andrew Luck threw for 282 yards and a touchdown as the Indianapolis Colts cruised to a 30-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final week of the NFL season.
Luck completed 26-of-37 passes, 11 of which went to T.Y. Hilton, who finished with 155 yards receiving.
Donald Brown and Trent Richardson added one rushing touchdown apiece and Griff Whalen caught one TD pass for the Colts (11-5), who had already wrapped up the AFC South and will be the fourth seed in the upcoming AFC Playoffs. Indianapolis will host the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC Wild Card game on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 4:35 p.m. ET.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I would definitely say we have gotten hot. We said at the beginning of the year, they give you a 16-game schedule. It's not in their DNA or any of our coaches' DNA, not our mindset not to play. We're not promised anything. We understand that fully," said Colts coach Chuck Pagano. "We come in week-in and week-out, go to work, put the time in, prepare the best we can and go play as hard as we can for 60 minutes."
Chad Henne was 30-for-51 passing for 331 yards, one touchdown and an interception and Kerry Taylor caught eight passes for 75 yards and a score for the Jaguars (4-12), who secured the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
"I don't think we had a game like that that we weren't in toward the end. And it was in our control. There were plays out there hat we know we can make. We just didn't make them today," Henne said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Indianapolis cashed in an early turnover as Maurice Jones-Drew fumbled and the Colts recovered it at the Jacksonville 42. Luck methodically led the Colts down to the 1-yard line in the no-huddle before Brown plowed his way in with 4:15 gone in the first quarter.
The hosts forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession and quickly found the end zone as Richardson bulled his way across the goal line from two yards out. Earlier in the march, Luck connected with Coby Fleener for a 25- yard gain and hit Weslye Saunders for an 18-yard completion to get the ball down to the six before Richardson's TD on 4th-and-2.
Adam Vinatieri added a 23-yard field goal to make it 17-0 with 1:22 remaining in the first.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jacksonville finally got on the board less than four minutes into the second when Josh Scobee split the uprights from 37 yards out to cap an 11-play, 41- yard march.
Vinatieri added a 26-yarder as time expired in the first half to send the Colts into the break with a 20-3 edge.
Luck led Indianapolis to paydirt on the opening drive of the third with a seven-yard touchdown toss to Whalen to make it 27-3 and Vinatieri nailed a 39- yarder near the midway point of the fourth to make it a 27-point game.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Henne found Taylor for a 14-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Colts have won their last three games by a total margin of 78-20 ... The Colts won the time of possession battle 33:40-26:20 ... Jags tight end Clay Harbor injured his ankle in second quarter and did not return ... The Jags have dropped at least 12 games for the second straight season ... Jacksonville had won three straight road tilts entering the contest.