The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Week 4

Sep 29, 2013; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Indianapolis Colts cornerback Darius Butler (20) points to his team

Chuck Pagano had put mouse traps with makeshift cheese in them all throughout the Colts locker room in order to keep in the players mind that the game at Jacksonville could be a potential trap game. After the dust had settled at Jacksonville, the Colts not only ate the cheese but they also ate the mousetraps at well. This game went exactly as expected as the Colts stomped the Jaguars at Jacksonville. The game itself was a fantastic indication of how good the Colts are and how the Colts will be moving forward.

The Good

• The Colts defense played lights out throughout the game. The Colts held Blaine Gabbert to 179 yards and under a 50% completion percentage. He also threw three interceptions in which one was returned for a Touchdown by Darius Butler. The Colts pass defense has 6 pass deflections and contained the passing game consistency.
• Staying on the subject of the defense, I breathed a sigh of relief that the Colts effectively negated the Jaguars run game. Maurice Jones-Drew, who historically has piled on the stats against the Colts, ran for only 23 yards on 13 carries. The Colts haven’t allowed a 100 yard rusher outside of Terrelle Pryor all season. They have faced the likes of Frank Gore, Darren McFadden and now Maurice Jones-Drew. Next week poses a big challenge as Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks come to town.
• The offense didn’t have their best outing but it was not needed as the offense garnered over 400 total yards. The run game was again strong that ran for 150+ yards. The biggest highlight of the game was Donald Brown’s 50 yard run. He has played exceptionally well in a backup role this season and continues to shine in running the football. He cannot pass protect at all so using him for run plays and taking advantage of his speed is great for the Colts moving forward.
• When the Colts came back from the half with a 20-3 lead, the Colts and more importantly Chuck Pagano didn’t step his foot off the gas. They did not play conservative and consistently threw the ball with succession and extended the lead and won 37-3.
• Robert Mathis has 7.5 sacks for the season and that is tied for the league lead.

The Bad

• Trent Richardson has not played up to his lofty expectations for the Colts as he ran for 60 yards on 20 carries. Although he runs well in short yardage situations, it just isn’t good enough with him being a 3^rd overall pick in the 2012 draft and costing the Colts a 2014 1^st rounder. It is only his 2^nd game but he was facing the 32^nd ranked run defense and averaged only 3 yards a carry. It’s nothing to hit the panic button over but does deserve at least a smidge of attention.
• Andrew Luck threw an interception early in the 1^st quarter which was his first 1^st Quarter interception of his career. It was a interception straight into the hands of the Jacksonville defender as T.Y Hilton didn’t run his route completely. Miscommunication was there for that play as well as others as Luck was inaccurate early one and almost made some passed that could have been intercepted.
• The Colts offensive line played decent against Jacksonville. They surrendered two sacks and the pocket collapsed more times than not. It was nothing too severe but it was a bit of a let-down compared to how good the Colts played against the 49ers.

The Ugly

• There was a plane that flew overhead during the Jacksonville game that had a banner that said, “Why not Tebow?”
• Blaine Gabbert isn’t very good at the Quarterback position at all. The Jaguars look terrible on both sides of the ball and look as bad, if not worse than the 2008 Lions and potentially the 2011 Colts.

The Colts now go back home to host the undefeated Seattle Seahawks. Yesterday, Seattle went on the road to Houston and had a big comeback victory which dropped the Texans to 2-2. This Texans loss put the Colts at a tie for 1^st place in the AFC South alongside the surprising Tennessee Titans. This coming week will be the biggest Colts challenge to date and with the way they handled the 49ers, positivity is flowing especially with this game being at home. With the Colts having a convincing win and not having a nightmare unfold where they play conservative, I believe there is no need to ever worry about a situation like Week 3 against Jacksonville in 2012 ever happening again. This win is up there in importance for Chuck Pagano similar to the 49ers win.

GO COLTS!!!