The Jacksonville Jaguars' offense has come to a halt and the defense can't stop anyone. That's a recipe for disaster with Peyton Manning coming to town.
The Jaguars will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak when they host the Indianapolis Colts - an AFC South rival and their biggest nemesis.
A season that started off with a promising 24-17 win over the Denver Broncos has quickly degenerated for Jacksonville (1-2), which has been outscored, 66-16, in lopsided losses to the San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles.
Turning things around will not be easy, particularly against the Colts (2-1), who rebounded from a 34-24 loss at the Houston Texans in Week 1 to post convincing victories over the New York Giants and Broncos.
While the myriad problems for the Jaguars are widespread, nowhere are they more glaring than at the quarterback position.
David Garrard is coming off two of the worst back-to-back performances of his career, throwing one touchdown pass vs. five interceptions while getting sacked eight times.
In last week's 28-3 home loss to the Eagles, Garrard finished 13 of 30 for 105 yards, was intercepted once and sacked six times while registering a ghastly passer rating of 38.9.
With backup Luke McCown out for the season, Jacksonville made a move to upgrade the QB position this week by claiming Trent Edwards off waivers from the Buffalo Bills.
Garrard is far from the only trouble spot. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew has rushed for only 217 yards and is averaging a career-low 3.8 yards per carry.
Jones-Drew has yet to score a rushing touchdown after amassing 49 in his first four years and has just six receptions in three games. He had 115 catches the past two seasons.
The offense's ineptitude combined with a stream of turnovers has overwhelmed Jacksonville's defense, which surrendered 334 passing yards in Week 2 and 291 to Michael Vick last week.
That doesn't bode well with a four-time MVP on deck. Manning leads the league with nine touchdown passes, having thrown for three in each of the first three games while yet to toss an interception.
Manning connected with second-year wide receiver Austin Collie 12 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 27-13 victory at Denver. Collie leads the league with 27 receptions while tight end Dallas Clark and wideout Reggie Wayne have 21 and 18 catches, respectively.
Indianapolis’ running game was non-existent against the Broncos, producing just 40 yards rushing on 20 carries.
The Colts’ defense also gave up huge chunks of yardage to Denver. Kyle Orton threw for 476 yards on 37 of 57 passing, but the Broncos managed just six points in five trips inside the red zone.
Indianapolis swept the season series with the Jaguars by a total of six points in 2009 and has won five of the past six meetings against Jacksonville.