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We've had a few more days this weekend to let the 27-10 butt-kicking of the Jaguars by the Colts sink in, and it still feels pretty good to watch a Colts game and not have to be on the edge of your seat all the way until the end. It was the first time this year that the Colts jumped on an inferior team and kept them down all the way until the end. These are the games we used to see all the time, and it was great to have that feeling again, wasn't it?
It was the Colts fourth win in a row, something they last did back in 2010, when they won four straight to end the season 10-6. It improved the Colts to 6-3 on the season, a full two games up on the 7th seed in the AFC, which is a great position to be in. The Colts, as of now, hold the tiebreaker over the Steelers for the 5th seed, but at this point it doesn't matter the seed: the Playoffs are a very real possibility for the Colts in 2012. It's truly amazing.
Elias has a bunch of good nuggets from Thursday night:
- Andrew Luck ran for two TDs, giving him five on the season, setting the Colts record for rushing TDs by a Quarterback. The previous record was held by Bert Jones in 1971, and Peyton Manning twice (2001 and 2006). Without looking, I'm betting all those Manning TDs are of the 1 and 2 yard variety.
- Reggie Wayne had 8 catches for 96 yards, bringing his career totals against the Jaguars to 133 receptions, 1,856 yards and 6 TDs in 22 career games. It's the most receptions and receiving yards by one player against a team by any active player. Yep, he pretty much owns Jacksonville.
- The Colts recorded four sacks on the night, which was the 37th straight game the Jaguars have given up a sack, the longest streak in the NFL since the 2005-08 Falcons.
How did the rest of the stats look? Let's take a look:
Non-Adjusted Stats for Week 10:
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | Off/Def Above | Off/Def Below | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 78.8% | 5 | 67.7% | 11 | Y | N | 5-2 |
| ANPY/A | 6.286 | 18 | 4.510 | 8 | Y | N | 5-0 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 14 | 3 | 4 | N | N | 7-0 |
| Yds/Drive | 39.89 | 5 | 30.64 | 17 | N | N | 3-0 |
| ToP/Drive | 3:58.4 | 1 | 2:12.2 | 6 | Y | N | 4-3 |
| Yds/Play | 5.523 | 13 | 5.349 | 13 | N | N | 2-1 |
| Orange Zone Eff | 47.6% | 21 | 35.7% | 4 | N | N | 6-0 |
| First Downs/Drive | 2.67 | 3 | 1.82 | 18 | N | N | 2-3 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 33.3% | 16 | 16.7% | 5 | N | N | 3-1 |
| Avg Start Pos | 32.4 | 9 | 18.3 | 1 | Y | N | 6-3 |
| 3 and Outs | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 | Y | N | 4-0 |
| RZ Eff | 81.0% | 8 | 71.4% | 11 | N | N | 7-1 |
| Plays/Drive | 7.222 | 2 | 5.727 | 20 | N | N | 1-2 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.615 | 7 | 1.825 | 2 | Y | N | 6-2 |
| RB Success | 44.4% | 12 | 18.2% | 1 | Y | N | 2-1 |
| Yds/Carry | 3.73 | 16 | 3.08 | 7 | N | N | 3-3 |
| Ranking - Week (28) | 7 | 7 | 4 | ||||
| Ranking - Season (292) | 60 | 40 | 20 | ||||
Adjusted Stats for Week 10:
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | Off/Def Above | Off/Def Below | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 75.5% | 8 | 78.5% | 25 | Y | N | 5-2 |
| ANPY/A | 5.748 | 17 | 5.985 | 10 | Y | N | 5-0 |
| Turnovers | 2.3 | 21 | 3.0 | 4 | N | N | 7-0 |
| Yds/Drive | 34.43 | 5 | 39.29 | 26 | N | N | 3-0 |
| ToP/Drive | 3:31.2 | 2 | 2:31.4 | 14 | Y | N | 4-3 |
| Yds/Play | 5.395 | 15 | 6.448 | 25 | N | N | 2-1 |
| Orange Zone Eff | 47.5% | 21 | 40.4% | 5 | N | N | 6-0 |
| First Downs/Drive | 2.34 | 5 | 2.27 | 26 | N | N | 2-3 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 30.0% | 16 | 27.7% | 11 | N | N | 3-1 |
| Avg Start Pos | 31.3 | 7 | 21.2 | 5 | Y | N | 6-3 |
| 3 and Outs | 0.7 | 1 | 3.2 | 21 | Y | N | 4-0 |
| RZ Eff | 81.9% | 13 | 65.4% | 10 | N | N | 7-1 |
| Plays/Drive | 6.492 | 5 | 6.332 | 24 | N | N | 1-2 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.605 | 7 | 1.631 | 2 | Y | N | 6-2 |
| RB Success | 39.3% | 19 | 22.1% | 1 | Y | N | 2-1 |
| Yds/Carry | 3.73 | 16 | 3.77 | 11 | N | N | 3-3 |
| Ranking - Week (28) | 8 | 18 | 13 | ||||
| Ranking - Season (292) | 113 | 135 | 103 | ||||
Some thoughts:
- It's amazing what happens when the Defense forces turnovers. The Colts doubled their season output Thursday night, and my Over 43 bet really could have used Darius Butler returning that second interception into the end zone. Damn the Jaguars for continuing to play. Butler also had the easy walk-in TD on an interception, and a fumble recovery on the sideline, which was nicely done to stay in bounds.
- The absence of Maurice Jones-Drew certainly showed up in the stats, didn't it? 28.2% RB Success Rate was the best of the weekend, and the adjusted number of just over 22% was also #1. The Jaguars clearly didn't try to run the ball much, especially after getting down 17 points, but a great day by the Defense stopping the run.
- They also stopped the pass fairly well, and a good chunk of those yards came in garbage time by Chad Henne, including the touchdown. Can't complain there.
- Big improvements in the Orange and Red Zone, both ranking in the top 10. The Drive stats are a little disappointing though, and the only way they make sense is if they consistently were getting about 3-6 yards per play, but ending drives whenever they got to third down. I'm sure if you watch their All-22, you'll see a whole lot of 7 yard out routes.
- As expected, the Offense moved the ball up and down the field, killing it on the drive stats. It's pretty sweet to see.
- Turnovers killed a couple of scoring drives, one bad interception, and a fumble that we're used to seeing on the other side of the ball. Better they come in a game up three scores, but 27-10 could have been a whole lot worse for Jacksonville.
- Along those same lines, still really struggling in the Orange Zone, as both turnovers occurred in there. The Red Zone is a bit better though, as they scored two TDs on three trips. Still lots of work to be done.
Season Stats through Week 10 (Adjusted):
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Best | Defense | Rank | Best | Record | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 72.4% | 8 | Patriots | 76.9% | 31 | Bears | 51-10 | 0.836 |
| ANPY/A | 5.757 | 17 | Broncos | 7.345 | 29 | Bears | 71-5 | 0.934 |
| Turnovers | 1.72 | 16 | Texans | 0.68 | 31 | Bears | 59-12 | 0.831 |
| Yds/Drive | 33.69 | 7 | Patriots | 35.59 | 31 | Bears | 47-12 | 0.797 |
| ToP/Drive | 2:56.0 | 8 | Steelers | 2:53.0 | 27 | Texans | 54-18 | 0.750 |
| Yds/Play | 5.302 | 15 | 49ers | 6.011 | 30 | Broncos | 43-16 | 0.729 |
| Orange Zone Eff | 44.7% | 28 | Saints | 65.4% | 31 | Bears | 56-13 | 0.812 |
| First Downs/Drive | 2.06 | 2 | Patriots | 2.04 | 32 | Cardinals | 42-20 | 0.677 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 43.2% | 9 | Steelers | 41.1% | 22 | Texans | 46-20 | 0.697 |
| Avg Start Pos | 27.5 | 30 | Bears | 28.0 | 6 | Patriots | 53-17 | 0.757 |
| 3 and Outs | 2.27 | 2 | Patriots | 3.07 | 26 | Bears | 45-17 | 0.726 |
| RZ Eff | 63.0% | 17 | Packers | 77.7% | 30 | Bears | 53-22 | 0.707 |
| Plays/Drive | 6.352 | 3 | Patriots | 5.993 | 30 | Texans | 39-22 | 0.639 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.800 | 13 | Falcons | 1.324 | 1 | Colts | 45-23 | 0.662 |
| RB Success | 41.3% | 22 | Bills | 45.3% | 23 | 49ers | 37-45 | 0.451 |
| Yds/Carry | 3.82 | 18 | Bills | 4.59 | 27 | 49ers | 40-35 | 0.533 |
| Overall | 10 | Patriots | 31 | Bears | ||||
A couple things:
- The Offense sticks at #10, but they're getting closer to leading the league in a couple categories, including First Downs per Drive and Three and Outs, just behind next week's opponent, the Patriots, who happen to have the #1 overall Offense as well.
- The Defense is still only in front of one team, the Bills, and we saw what the Patriots did to them this weekend. The Colts amazingly still lead the league in opponents penalty yards per play, but pretty much everything else is at the bottom of the league. The next three weeks they'll face top half of the league Offenses, so they'll get their chance to improve, or we'll see a couple of shootouts.
Week-to-Week Comparison:
| Colts | Opponent | Non-Adjusted | Adjusted | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Offense | Defense | Total | Offense | Defense | Total | |
| 1 | Bears | 214 | 180 | 242 | 96 | 218 | 158 |
| 2 | Vikings | 151 | 202 | 191 | 163 | 223 | 221 |
| 3 | Jaguars | 122 | 104 | 79 | 172 | 220 | 225 |
| 4 | BYE | ||||||
| 5 | Packers | 141 | 102 | 92 | 103 | 63 | 44 |
| 6 | Jets | 227 | 257 | 280 | 245 | 291 | 292 |
| 7 | Browns | 75 | 200 | 134 | 63 | 279 | 203 |
| 8 | Titans | 32 | 251 | 138 | 43 | 272 | 169 |
| 9 | Dolphins | 25 | 238 | 113 | 25 | 281 | 171 |
| 10 | Jaguars | 60 | 40 | 20 | 113 | 135 | 103 |
Finally some improvement from the Defense, as the Offense fell back a bit, mostly explained by playing a pretty bad Defense, and still having the same issues we've seen for weeks now, scoring points when they get deep into opponents territory. But it was the second best game played by the Colts this season, so lots to be optimistic about.