Power Rankings Tuesday: Colts Stay Roughly the Same

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time to take a look at the power rankings!  After a 44-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, these power rankings have to be more fun to look at than they have been the past two weeks, with the Colts at 0-2 - right?  Let's take a look.

SB Nation's Danny Kelly ranked the Colts 18th, a fall of one spot from last week despite the huge win.

The USA Today ranked the Colts tied for 10th with the San Francisco 49ers, and with the Colts moving up six spots, they were the biggest risers of the week:

10. (tie) Indianapolis (1-2): They were almost perfect Sunday, though maybe they should've taken it easier on Chad Henne to keep him in Jags' lineup a while longer.

ESPN ranked the Colts 14th, one spot higher than last week:

Andrew Luck was the first quarterback in ESPN Stats & Info's data set (since 2006) to attempt at least five passes deeper than 20 yards downfield without an incompletion (6-of-6).

NFL.com's Elliot Harrison ranked the Colts 17th, also one spot higher than they ranked the Colts last week:

Anyone wondering if the Colts would respond angrily after blowing a home game last Monday night and faltering in key situations in Denver in Week 1 received their answer. Indianapolis put up more than 500 yards of offense against the Jacksonville Jaguars, despite the fact the Colts were more than tapping the brakes in the fourth quarter of their Week 3 rout.

CBS Sports' Pat Kirwan ranked the Colts 12th - a fall from number seven a week ago:

12. Colts (7): There's nothing like a game against the Jaguars to get right the ship. The defense will have problems but the offense is explosive and has enough talent to win the AFC South.

So ultimately, there wasn't a ton of movement for the Colts this week in the power rankings, but that was to be expected after playing the Jaguars.  Of the five power rankings we looked at, the average ranking was 14 - with two higher and two lower as well.  The average movement for the Colts was rising one spot.  Only two power rankings - CBS's Pat Kirwan and SB Nation's Danny Kelly - had the Colts falling in the rankings, despite a 27-point road blowout win against a divisional opponent.  Kirwan, however, had the Colts at number seven a week ago despite them being 0-2, so them falling to 12th isn't anything bad.  As for 18th?  Well, if you're going by record maybe, but do you really think there are 16 teams in the NFL who would beat the Colts consistently or be favored against the Colts?  I don't.

If you expected the Colts to rise much in the power rankings, you probably overestimated the Jaguars, but the Colts did exactly what they needed to do this weekend.  They had a dominating road win over a division opponent to get their first win of the season, and most of the power rankings acknowledged that at least somewhat by raising the Colts.  The real test will come next month, however, when the Colts face the Ravens, Texans, Bengals, and Steelers in four consecutive weeks.

For now, the Colts are ranked in the middle of the league in the average power ranking, and after only three weeks, I think that's fair.