3 SHUTOUTS in the NFL Today 10/22/17

[simmytbone]

Hey guys,

3 shutouts today in the NFL

Colts get shutout @ home by the Jaguars in Jacksonville, the Rams shutout the Cardinals in London and in L.A., the Chargers shutout the Broncos

Here are the stories:

1st off

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/gametr...71022_JAC@IND/

Bortles, Jaguars' D sacks Colts 27-0 to stay atop division
Oct 22, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Blake Bortles set up the Indianapolis Colts with a curveball Sunday. The Jaguars' dominant defense finished it off with a rare shutout.

With feature back Leonard Fournette inactive, Bortles threw for a season-high 330 yards and one touchdown and the defense tied a franchise record with 10 sacks in a 27-0 drubbing at Indy.

''We obviously were able to get to their quarterback. The guys played well, guys were ready to step up,'' coach Doug Marrone said.

Under the circumstances, the Jaguars (4-3) couldn't have scripted a better combination.

They spent the week fine-tuning their deep throws, and it worked perfectly.

Bortles completed first-half passes of 52, 50 and 45 yards, all longer than his previous season best of 35 yards. He wound up 18 of 26 and finished with a rating of 124.7, the fourth-highest of his career.

T.J. Yeldon, who helped fill in for the injured Fournette, ran nine times for 122 yards, including a 58-yard scoring run late in the third quarter that sealed Indy's fate. Jacksonville finished with 188 yards rushing.
And Bortles enjoyed the change of pace.

''Hopefully they keep stacking the box so we can keep doing that (throwing long). It's a little bit more fun as a quarterback to throw than to hand it off,'' he said. ''But as long as we're winning, that's irrelevant. We'll do whatever the defense shows us and play off of that.''

As usual, the Jags' defense was almost impenetrable.

While Jacksonville didn't add to its league-leading takeaway total, it matched the 10 sacks it had against Houston in the season opener, and the Jags got their first shutout since a 41-0 victory over the New York Jets on Oct. 8, 2006.

Strangely, Indy was shut out for the first time since a 41-0 loss to the Jets in a playoff game on Jan. 4, 2003.

The Colts (2-5) had their only serious scoring chance snuffed out on a botched fourth-and-2 quarterback sneak at the Jaguars 6-yard line.
''This one falls squarely on my shoulders,'' coach Chuck Pagano said after Indy's second straight loss. ''Obviously, I didn't have this team prepared and ready to go.''

It was never even close.

Bortles led Jacksonville to scores on its first two possessions - getting a 1-yard run from Chris Ivory to cap the first drive and finishing the second with a nifty 5-yard TD pass to Marcedes Lewis - for a 14-0 lead. He set up new kicker Josh Lambo for two second-quarter field goals to make it 20-0.

The Jaguars snapped a four-game losing streak at Lucas Oil Stadium.

KEY NUMBERS:

Jaguars: Jacksonville joined the 1984 Chicago Bears and 1967 Oakland Raiders as the only teams to record 10 or more sacks twice in the same season. The Jags converted its first five third-down chances and had 518 yards in total offense compared with 232 for the Colts. ... Allen Hurns caught five passes for 101 yards. .. Calais Campbell was credited with two sacks, giving him a career high 10 this season.

Colts: Quarterback Jacoby Brissett was 22 of 37 for 200 yards. ... Frank Gore carried nine times for 34 yards, moving within four attempts of passing Barry Sanders (3,062) for No. 6 on the NFL's career list. ... T.Y. Hilton caught two passes for 27 yards after having one catch in Monday night's loss at Tennessee. The 10 sacks are the most in the Colts' Indianapolis era. ... It marked the first time Indy was shut out in a regular-season game since Dec. 26, 1993, against New England, ending the third-longest streak without a shutout in league history at 375 games.

INJURIES

Jaguars: Fournettte sat out with a sprained right ankle and starting center Brandon Linder was inactive with an illness. Left tackle Cam Robinson did not return after injuring his left ankle on the second play of the game. Marrone didn't have an immediate update after the game.

Colts: Indy lost three defensive starters - cornerback Rashaan Melvin (concussion), inside linebacker John Simon (stinger), safety Malik Hooker (right knee) in the first half. None of the three returned. Starting center Ryan Kelly (hamstring) left in the in the second half and also did not return. Hooker is scheduled to have an MRI done on the knee after he refused to get on the golf cart before halftime.

THEY SAID IT

Jaguars: ''I've never really even thought about it. The W's is all I care about, getting that W. When you get sacks along the way, it all helps.'' - Campbell, referring to their second 10-sack day of the season.

Colts: ''There's something wrong with us? People lose all the time. We have to play another day.'' - Brissett.

UP NEXT

Jaguars: Host Cincinnati on Nov. 5 after getting a bye next week.

Colts: Will try to snap a two-game losing streak when they visit Cincinnati next weekend.

Meanwhile....

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/gametr...71022_ARI@LAR/

Goff leads Rams to shutout with Cardinals' Palmer injured
Oct 22, 2017

LONDON (AP) Already one of the more dynamic offenses in the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams found a new gear against the Arizona Cardinals.

Jared Goff ran for a touchdown and threw for another and Greg Zuerlein made four field goals as the Rams won for the first time in three appearances in Britain, beating the Cardinals 33-0 at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday.

Goff completed 22 of 37 passes for 235 yards with an interception and Todd Gurley ran for 106 yards and a touchdown for the NFC West-leading Rams (5-2), who finished with 425 yards of offense - their most in a game in more than three years.

Los Angeles has also won five of its first seven games for the first time since 2003, which was the last time the Rams finished with a winning record.

''We haven't been in this position, but we're definitely grateful,'' Gurley said. ''We've just got to take it game by game.''

Arizona (3-4), meanwhile, heads home with significant questions after quarterback Carson Palmer broke his left arm in the second quarter.

Palmer will require surgery, coach Bruce Arians said, and is expected to miss eight weeks. The quarterback finished 10 for 18 for 122 yards after being hit by Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree and intercepted with 5:48 remaining in the first half.

He was replaced by longtime backup Drew Stanton, who completed 5 of 14 passes for 162 yards and an interception and was unable to close what began as a 6-0 deficit.

''Obviously, not what I anticipated seeing,'' Arians said.

Gurley's 18-yard touchdown run immediately followed Palmer's interception, and Goff helped push the Rams' lead to 20-0 after he took a zone-read keeper 9 yards for a touchdown.

Zuerlein, who set a franchise record by making all seven field goal attempts in a win against the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 1, connected from 23, 33, 53 and 34 yard, and Kupp, a rookie out of Eastern Washington, finished off the scoring by taking a screen pass 18 yards for a touchdown with 3:53 remaining.

Los Angeles finished with 228 passing yards and 197 rushing yards, and under first-year coach Sean McVay, there's a feeling among players that things will only continue to get better.

''We kind of say it every week - we can do more, we can do more,'' wide receiver Robert Woods said. ''I think we've got that mindset that we can always do better. I think that will be great for this offense and this team.''

PETERSON SHUT DOWN

Adrian Peterson, in his second game for the Cardinals since being acquired via a trade with the New Orleans Saints, was held to just 21 yards on 11 carries.

It was a contrast from a week ago, when he ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Kerwynn Williams handled the bulk of pass-protection duties with Andre Ellington out because of a quadriceps injury, but he did not have a rushing attempt.

A SECOND SHUTOUT

The Rams' shutout of the Cardinals marked the second time in as many games in Britain that an opponent has failed to score. The Saints defeated the Miami Dolphins 20-0 at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 1 - the 18th game held in the country.

Los Angeles had not shut out an opponent since a 24-0 road victory against the Washington Redskins on Dec. 7, 2014, while the Cardinals had not failed to score since a 58-0 loss at Seattle on Dec. 9, 2012.

FITZGERALD'S TRAVELS

With his first catch, a 16-yard reception over the middle on the fourth play from scrimmage, Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has now caught a pass in the NFL in 40 different stadiums.

Fitzgerald finished with just three catches for 29 yards.

DANSBY, SULLIVAN HURT

In addition to Palmer, the Cardinals lost two players to injury who later returned: inside linebacker Karlos Dansby (left hand) and defensive tackle Frostee Rucker (right knee). Meanwhile, Rams center John Sullivan (left knee) and rookie wide receiver Josh Reynolds (concussion) left the game and did not return.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Will have their bye week before visiting the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 5.

Rams: After a bye week, will visit last year's Twickenham opponents, the New York Giants.

and finally....

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/gametr...71022_DEN@LAC/

Chargers send Broncos to 1st shutout loss in 25 years, 21-0
Oct 22, 2017

CARSON, Calif. (AP) When the cannon sounded and thousands of orange-clad fans in the StubHub Center crowd trudged to their cars, Joey Bosa and his teammates celebrated a few milestones with their half of the home crowd.

For the first time since Dec. 18, 1960, the Los Angeles Chargers won a home game.

And they did it by sending their archrivals from Denver to their first shutout loss in nearly a quarter-century.

''That's a cherry on top,'' Bosa said.

Travis Benjamin returned a first-quarter punt 65 yards for a touchdown and caught a 42-yard TD pass in the fourth, and the Chargers played a dominant defensive game in the first home victory of their relocation season, 21-0 over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Bosa and Chris McCain each had two of the Chargers' five sacks . Los Angeles' defense forced three turnovers and flattened Trevor Siemian and the Broncos (3-3), who hadn't been blanked since a 24-0 loss to the Los Angeles Raiders on Nov. 22, 1992.

Philip Rivers passed for 183 yards in his 100th victory, hitting Austin Ekeler for an early TD and Benjamin for the late clincher, but even the veteran quarterback was a grateful spectator.

''It was fun to watch our defense play,'' Rivers said. ''Man, they were awesome.''

The Chargers (3-4) have won three straight under new coach Anthony Lynn following a winless opening month in their first season back in Los Angeles after 56 years in San Diego.

''We feel like it's wide open,'' said Lynn, whose Chargers are on their first three-game winning streak since November 2014. ''We dug a hole for ourselves, and we're just climbing out of the hole. We know we've got a hill to climb. Today we just took more steps. It's starting to pay off for us.''

The Chargers had lost seven consecutive home games since last November, and they hadn't won a home game as the LA Chargers since the final game of the AFL's inaugural regular season, after which they lost the championship game to the Houston Oilers and then moved south.

But the Bolts largely dominated the Broncos, who have lost three of four with a flagging offense that has managed three touchdowns in four games. Los Angeles also avenged its season-opening loss in Denver on a blocked field goal at the end.

Siemian passed for 207 yards, but Denver lost to the Chargers for just the third time in the AFC West rivals' past 14 meetings - and did so in historic fashion.

''You can't lose two games straight and not have any issues,'' said Von Miller, who sacked Rivers twice. ''So we've obviously got issues that we need to address from the top down. I strongly feel we'll get this corrected.''

The Broncos, who have never been shut out at home, might have been able to preserve their non-shutout streak with long field goals in the fourth quarter. But coach Vance Joseph went for it twice on fourth down and ended up with an interception and a turnover on downs.

''It wasn't simply on Trevor,'' Joseph said. ''I felt up until five minutes to go, it was a game we could have won. ... We're not blocking well. We're not protecting well. We had some good plays called again today. We had some guys wide open. We're just not hitting the passes. It's puzzling.''

The Chargers forced a turnover on Denver's opening drive and advanced to the Broncos 1, but failed to punch it in on four straight running plays.

Undeterred, the Los Angeles defense got a stop, and Benjamin allowed one big bounce before scampering down the middle for the Chargers' first punt return for a TD since 2012.

Ekeler caught a 1-yard swing pass from Rivers for a TD in the second quarter to put the Chargers up 14-0 - their biggest lead in their past 14 games.

GOOD START

Benjamin's TD punt return was only the Chargers' second touchdown of the season in a first quarter, where they had been outscored 50-7.

BRONCOS HISTORY

Miller moved past Karl Mecklenburg for second place in Broncos history in sacks behind Simon Fletcher. Miller has sacked Rivers 16 times.

INJURIES

Denver's offensive struggles were likely related to the injury absences of right tackle Menelik Watson (calf) and receivers Emmanuel Sanders (ankle), Isaiah McKenzie (ankle) and Cody Latimer (knee).

The Chargers played without starting right tackle Joe Barksdale (turf toe) and key defensive lineman Corey Liuget (back). They lost LG Matt Slauson to a biceps injury in the second half.

UP NEXT

Broncos: At Chiefs on Monday night in a prime-time chance to answer back in the AFC West race.

Chargers: At Patriots on Sunday for the first of two straight transcontinental road trips, with their bye week sandwiched in between.