Riding a career-best performance from Andrew Luck, the Indianapolis Colts rolled to a 44-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3. Our takeaways:
- Luck's 140.4 passer rating was easily the best single-game mark of his career. The four touchdowns are tied for a career best and the 370 yards are tied for the fourth-most in any single game. He would have had a fifth touchdown, but Coby Fleener dropped a perfectly thrown pass in the end zone. Luck put on a clinic in the pocket. If not for red-zone miscues, the Colts would have cleared 50 points.
- Jaguars coach Gus Bradley announced after the game that rookie Blake Bortleswill start in Week 4 at San Diego. Chad Henne was yanked at halftime after the Jaguars managed just 55 yards -- to 330 for the Colts -- in the first two quarters. Bortles' boxscore looks much better than Henne's, but that's purely the result of a couple of garbage-time touchdown drives. Bortles started 1 of 5, threw a pick-six and was lucky that an illegal contact penalty nullified a strip-sack safety.
- Jacksonville's offensive line is the worst position group in the NFL. The Colts are a team without a pass rusher, but that didn't stop them from registering four sacks in addition to the near-safety. Bortles is a major talent upgrade over Henne. Porous pass protection will prevent him from turning the Jaguars' season around.
- T.Y. Hilton was ruled out for the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter. There was no need to test the injury with a 30-3 lead at the time. Rookie Donte Moncrief came on as Hilton's replacement and showed promise with 55 yards on four receptions.
- Thanks to a 27-yard scamper, Richardson has reached 80 yards from scrimmage in back-to-back games for just the second time in 18 games with the Colts. Even if he's showing signs of life, he's still being outplayed by Ahmad Bradshaw, who has taken over as the trusted red-zone back.
- With Marqise Lee (hamstring) out of the lineup, fellow rookie Allen Robinson took over as the top target in the Jaguars' passing game, leading the team with 10 targets, seven catches and 79 yards.
- Prior to garbage time, the Jaguars had been outscored 105-10 in eight quarters since jumping out to a 17-0 lead over the Eagles in the season opener. This is the weakest team in the league. We believe the roster inherited by Bradley and general manager David Caldwell was pathetic enough to grant them longer leashes than their team's performance might suggest.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps the Falcons' lopsided win over the Bucs and previews every other game in Week 3.
