After the Indianapolis Colts traded away both Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner on Tuesday, it is obvious that they plan to undertake a full-on fire sale ahead of the November 10 trade deadline. That is good news for the Jacksonville Jaguars who will face the Colts on Sunday and then again in Week 18, but head coach Liam Coen made a really good point about why Indianapolis should not be taken lightly.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Coen said the following as shared by Rachel Phillips on social media: “Often times teams will come off some of these moves and things like that with more of a, ‘Hey, screw it, let’s go play.'”
The Colts are not all that scary on paper with a 2-5 record especially facing a Jaguars team that is 4-2 on the season, but the last thing the Jags can afford to do is take the game for granted. As Coen also noted in his remarks to the media, Jacksonville played a Philadelphia Eagles team that was dealing with injuries a few weeks ago and that game came down to the wire. The Jaguars’ last game was a loss to the Houston Texans, a team that is 2-5 on the season so they do not need to be reminded that any given Sunday a team, even if it is less talented on paper, can play well and score an upset.
It might be easy for the Jaguars to be lulled into a false sense of security since they are currently in the lead of a very weak AFC South. They’re 4-2 and the next-closest teams are the Texans and the Colts at 2-5 with the lowly Tennessee Titans bringing up the rear at 1-6. Those teams may feel like they are a long way away, but objects in the mirror are often closer than they appear and if Jacksonville has some sloppy losses then the division could start tightening up very quickly.
There should be more trade activity in AFC South
There has already been quite a bit of trade activity in the division thus far. The Colts made their big trades and running back Jonathan Taylor could also potentially be on the move soon. The Tennessee Titans traded Jeffrey Simmons to the Chicago Bears so that means Jacksonville’s Week 10 and 12 matchups against the Titans should be slightly easier. Houston made a big addition by trading for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and the Jags could be aggressive as well although they also seem likely to trade away receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
For a division that is often overlooked that is a lot of action. The Jaguars are in a great position to win the AFC South but they cannot take any games for granted. That means showing up and playing the Colts as hard as possible because, as Coen warns, Indy might just come out guns blazing and catch a Jacksonville team coming back from its bye week flat-footed.
Jaguars HC Liam Coen Warns Colts Are Dangerous Despite Fire Sale