The Monday After Awards: Colts vs. Jaguars

The Colts rolled on Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville. Frankly, they finally looked a lot more like the team I think a lot of us thought they would be. Yes, it was the Jaguars. It was still an impressive win.

Now that I've had a day to look at the game a little bit more, it's time to hand out some awards from the game.

Offensive MVP/Game MVP - Andrew Luck

Was there any doubt? He was 31 of 39 with 370 yards and four touchdowns. Plus, a cool 15 yards on the ground. For the first time, for an entire game, Andrew Luck was allowed to be Andrew Luck, and it showed. We saw no poor throws, in my opinion, from Luck, and a few (actually half by my memory) of his incompletions were drops.

Luck found nine different receivers through the course of the game. And that really shouldn't be a surprise with all of the weapons the Colts have (and finally used Sunday). Really, he should have had five touchdowns...but I'll get to that later. Fantastic game from the franchise QB.

Defensive MVP - Vontae Davis

I was close to giving this to Erik Walden, as he played a great game as well. However, Davis gets the nod, partly because he has been so dominant this season. I only remember Peyton Manning coming after Davis once, and early in the game. Nick Foles was a little more aggressive, but Davis played well (minus that crucial PI penalty). And yesterday I only remember two passes going his way. One of those being an incomplete pass, and the other was Davis' interception.

I'm sure someone will be quick to correct me if I missed Davis royally messing up at any point in the first three games.

Yes, Davis did have two more penalties against Jacksonville, but overall he played very well. As a rule of thumb, I figure the less you hear a corner's name during a game, the better. Am I saying Davis is on par with Richard Sherman?  Not necessarily, but he's been worth every penny of that contract so far. So yes, this award is more of a first three weeks MVP rather than a one game MVP.

Common Sense Award - Pep Hamilton and Gus Bradley

Here we have a tie. Hamilton gets in on this award because he finally turned the offense loose. While we saw more passes than runs, the offense seemed balanced. That's because the Colts finally did what they did so well in recent years (especially with Manning). The pass set up the run. While the Jaguars are not a stout defense, a heavy dose of Luck gave the Jacksonville defense plenty to think about. When the Colts did decide to run, it worked (for the most part). Whenever Trent Richardson has a 27 yard run, I deem the offensive game plan a success.

Bradley also gets this award for finally giving the keys of the offense to Blake Bortles. Yes, he will struggle behind a dreadful offensive line. Yes, he will make some bonehead rookie mistakes. Yes, the Jaguars will still continue to lose games. And yes, the Jaguars will look better with him under center. You could see the boost Bortles gave to the team, and the extra dimension his legs add to the offense. I don't know why Bradley waited so long, but he finally gave into common sense and will continue to roll with Bortles.

Stone Hands Award - Coby Fleener

When you drop 25% of your QBs incompletions you will get noticed. Fleener dropped the first pass of the game when he was wide open. He then, more egregiously, dropped a WIDE OPEN touchdown in the second quarter. I would venture to say that most of you reading this could make a catch if you were that wide open. I'm a fan of Fleener, but he's got to work on catching that football more consistently.

Bonehead Moment Award - 3^rd and 9

I wanted to give this to Jacksonville's attempt at a flea-flicker. However, it was a good idea, just terribly executed. Which is about what you would expect from Jacksonville.

Because of that, the award goes to Pep Hamilton and his call on the 3^rd and 9 on the opening drive (a draw play). Don't get me wrong, Hamilton called a great game, but this play call was dumb. When you have Luck, Fleener, Dwyane Allen, Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks, and T.Y. Hilton why in the world do you run on that play?? I'm sure there was a reason behind it, I just don't get it.

Another honorable mention includes Jaguars' defensive lineman Sen'Derrick Marks (I think it was him) doing a rather elaborate sack dance after getting to Luck in the second quarter. Nevermind it was 17-0 at the time.

And finally...

LVP - The announcers

Was there any doubt? These guys were dreadful. As someone who called football games on the radio at one point, I hope I never sounded like this. Tom McCarthy and Adam Archuleta had two phrases to describe players. They were either a "bell cow" or a "load." Let's not forget that a majority of players "rumbled" down the field.

Also, I think most of us (and anyone who follows football) could tell the difference between Richardson and Bradshaw, which these two could not at one point. And those of you paying attention probably noticed that Hugh Thorton returned quickly after his injury. McCarthy and Archuleta noticed about a quarter later.

That's it for this week's awards. If you think someone else deserved one of these awards, feel free to disagree. If you want to see some different awards handed out in the future, let me know.