Finally arriving, right on schedule but feeling a little like its been far too long, the 2020 Colts season will begin in the same place the 2019 season ended in disappointment.
Indianapolis opens the 2020 season at 1 p.m. Sunday on WTTV against the Jaguars at Jacksonvilles TIAA Bank Field, the site of an ugly, disheartening 38-20 loss that kept the Colts from finishing .500 last season, dropping the team instead to 7-9.
But this is a new year, with a new quarterback in Philip Rivers, newly imported playmakers on both sides of the ball and a remarkable sense of optimism.
This team right here, youre going to see a different team this year, Indianapolis receiver T.Y. Hilton said. And its going to show on Sunday.
With that in mind, heres a look at what to watch when the Colts take the field.
Philip Rivers, quarterback, during Colts team practice at Lucas Oil Stadium, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. (Photo: Robert Scheer/The Indianapolis Star)
1. The way the carries and playing time are divvied up at running back between Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor. The Colts coaching staff has said throughout this offseason that they consider Mack and Taylor to be a 1-1 punch, and they plan to ride the hot hand. This will be the first chance to see what that plan looks like in practice.
2. Expect Indianapolis to pound away early in the game. Jacksonvilles run defense gave up 139.3 yards per game, ranked 28th in the NFL last season and gave up more than 200 yards on the ground four times, including 264 to the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. On a hot Florida day, the Colts might let Quenton Nelson, Mark Glowinski and Braden Smith lay onthe Jaguars defensive front.
3. The left side of the offensive line needs to stay healthy. Nelson (back), left tackle Anthony Castonzo (oblique) and center Ryan Kelly (knee) all showed up on the injury report this week, and the Colts cant afford to lose any of their three Pro Bowl-type talents up front.
4. The only member of the Sacksonville defense left in Duval is a late-comer, 2019 first-rounder Josh Allen, who led all rookies last year with 10.5 sacks, including 1.5 in two meetings against the Colts. Allen rushed primarily off the left side last season, matching him up with Smith at right tackle for most of the day.
5. Philip Rivers was efficient, accurate and quick with his decisions during the portions of training camp reporters were allowed to watch. Brought in to fix a woeful passing game, Rivers has a lot of weight on his shoulders this season, and a young Jacksonville secondary should be ripe for the picking.
6. In the two dress rehearsals at Lucas Oil Stadium, Rivers favorite receiver was T.Y. Hilton, who feels strong and healthy going into this season, potentially with his future in Indianapolis on the line. Expect Jacksonville to direct its coverage toward Hilton; Rivers has to find ways to get the ball to the Colts best receiver anyway.
7. Parris Campbell, the Colts speedy second-year receiver, is healthy for this opener, and he should be an interesting weapon to watch Frank Reich deploy. In the one game Campbell was fully healthy last season, Indianapolis got him the ball in a variety of ways crossing routes, bubble screens, reverses, jet sweeps and it will be interesting to see if that element is back now that hes healthy again.
8. Ditto for Nyheim Hines, who will be playing a more specialized role as the third-down back with Mack and Taylor trading snaps as the conventional halfback.
9. With Trey Burton out of action, expect Jack Doyle to get the bulk of the targets at tight end.
10. Rookie wide receiver Michael Pittman had some ups and downs during training camp. Pittman profiles as a big-bodied target who can make contested catches in traffic, and hell likely be matched up at times against Jacksonvilles first-round cornerback, C.J. Henderson, making for an interesting rookie battle.
11. New Jaguars linebacker Joe Schobert had four interceptions as a Brown last year and has six in his career. Rivers will need to keep an eye out for him.
12. For a couple of years now, the Colts have been saying the 3-technique defensive tackle spot drives this defense. DeForest Buckner gets his first chance Sunday to show Indianapolis how much of a difference he can make.
13. Leonard Fournette is gone to Tampa. Ryquell Armstead and Devine Ozigbo are hurt. That means Jacksonvilles rushing offense will be spearheaded by undrafted free agent James Robinson, from Illinois State. Expect the Jaguars to put the ball in the air a lot on Sunday. That might have been the plan anyway. Jay Gruden is Jacksonvilles offensive coordinator now, and Gruden has never been shy about putting the ball in the air.
14. Second-year quarterback Gardner Minshew, who torched the Colts for 295 yards in the season finale last year, was susceptible to the sack last year he took 33 despite playing only part of the season but Grudens offense is predicated on getting the ball out of the pocket quickly. Buckner, Justin Houston and the rest of the Indianapolis pass rush need to put Minshew on the run.
15. The Colts raved about Rock Ya-Sins training camp and have been largely optimistic about Xavier Rhodes at the other cornerback spot. The tandem will be tested right away; a Jacksonville receiving corps led by D.J. Chark, Dede Westbrook and rookie Laviska Shenault has plenty of big-play potential.
16. Malik Hooker was a difference-maker at times last season, and a liability at other times. Against a passing attack like Jacksonvilles, Indianapolis needs Hooker to come up big and get his hands in the passing lanes.
17. Rookie Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has kicked in TIAA Bank Field, the annual location of the Deep Souths Oldest Rivalry between Blankenships Georgia and Florida, plenty of times before. Indianapolis badly needs Blankenship to get off to a good start; no one wants to relive the tension of last season every time the Colts line up for a kick.
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Insider: 17 things to watch as Colts open season against lowly Jaguars - IndyStar