Colts vs. Jaguars 2016 final score: Jacksonville holds off Indianapolis in sloppy London game, 30-27

The Jacksonville Jaguars came close to blowing a 17-point fourth quarter lead against the Indianapolis Colts, but a 42-yard touchdown for Allen Hurns with just over five minutes left gave Jacksonville enough of a cushion to secure a 30-27 win in London.

Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley desperately needed a win. He was teetering on the edge of getting fired, but will likely survive at least two more weeks with a Week 5 bye on the way for Jacksonville.

While Bradley’s job as Jaguars coach seemed far from secure entering the game, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports said his job was safe barring a “total debacle” against the Colts. And for the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter, the Jaguars looked in danger of having one of those disasters.

The Colts found touchdowns on three consecutive drives, getting aided by pass interference penalties that put them on the doorstep on the first two drives and striking deep with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Luck to Philip Dorsett.

It very likely would’ve been enough to get a win if Hurns didn’t manage to break away for a score in the fourth quarter. Instead of the bomb to Dorsett giving the Colts the lead, Indianapolis trailed by three with two minutes to drive the field for a game-tying field goal or game-winning touchdown.

But the Jaguars defense held and forced a turnover on downs, knocking down a pass intended for Dwayne Allen and holding off last-second silliness.

Prior to the fourth quarter, the Jaguars made it a nightmarish game for Luck. Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Yannick Ngakoue recorded his third sack of the year and intercepted Luck while the Colts receivers dropped four passes in the first quarter.

One of the few highlights for the Colts in the first three quarters came when Andrew Luck spun out of a Paul Posluszny sack to find Jack Doyle, who raced up the sideline for 53 yards. However, a Jaguars challenge revealed that Luck’s knee was down and the play was overturned for a sack.

On the other side, Blake Bortles didn’t fare much better. The long play by Hurns made up for an otherwise jittery performance for the quarterback, who finished 19-of-33 passing for 207 yards and two touchdowns. He did well, however, to finish with zero interceptions — something he doesn’t do often.

The real hero of the Jaguars offense was running back T.J. Yeldon, who racked up 71 rushing yards on 14 carries and 46 passing yards on four receptions, including some tough yardage in big spots.

The loss for the Colts drops the team to 1-3 and puts Chuck Pagano dangerously close to being out of a job as well. The Houston Texans currently lead the AFC South at 2-1 but are without J.J. Watt for the remainder of the year, leaving the division without a clear frontrunner.