Blake Bortles must have been watching the Eli Manning news this week.
The Jaguars quarterback didn’t have the normally excellent running game he’s used to, but did enough to help the Jaguars to a comfortable 30-10 win over the Colts, getting back on the right side after last week’s loss to Blaine Gabbert and the Cardinals.
Bortles finished 26-of-35 for 309 yards and two touchdowns. It’s the kind of performance he needs more of if he’s going to keep his job long-term, especially with a guy Jaguars executive Tom Coughlin is so familiar with on the outs in New York.
It’s also the kind of thing they could use as they continue to push for the AFC South title and a playoff berth, but the Jaguars turned in a workmanlike effort, as they improved to 8-4. They’ve won five of their last six, making last week’s loss look like the speed bump and not the road they’re on.
Then again, maybe it was just the Colts, who fell to 3-9, having losing six of their last seven games. Bortles has a habit of lighting them up, with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in his last six games against them. And he’s had two 300-yard games this year, both against Indianapolis.
The only bright spot for the Colts was a third-quarter run by Frank Gore, which picked up 16 yards and moved him past LaDainian Tomlinson and into fifth on the all-time rushing yardage list.
Gore now trails only Emmett Smith, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Curtis Martin.
He’s the kind of pro a quarterback like Andrew Luck could have used, but without Luck and in the first year of their latest rebuild, Gore’s performance feels kind of wasted.