Some Interesting Stats from the Colts Win on Sunday

It was an impressive 44-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday for the Colts to finally get into the win column on the season.  Our own Matt Grecco did his tremendous "Inside the Numbers" piece from the game earlier this morning, and if you haven't read that yet go check it out now and then come back to this.

To go along with that, here are some interesting numbers from Sunday's game and from the start to the season in general:

• Through three games, Andrew Luck leads the entire NFL in completions (86), attempts (126) and touchdown passes (9).  He's third in passing yards (912), seventh in completion percentage (68.3%), sixth in passer rating (103.0), and is one of only six quarterbacks with at least one rushing touchdown this season.
• And then there's this little tidbit:  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Andrew Luck is 1st <a href="https://twitter.com/Colts">@Colts</a> QB w/ 350+ yards, 4+ TDs, 0 INTs &amp; 75+ comp pct in a game since... Johnny Unitas in 1967</p>&mdash; Randall Liu (@RLiuNFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/RLiuNFL/status/513802329871491074">September 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
• Per ESPN Stats and Info: "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)."
• This is from RTV6's Mike Chappell: "A Colts QB has passed for at least 370 yards 31 times in club history, including a pair of 370-yard outings by Luck this season. Only twice in those games has a receiver failed to finish with at least 100 yards."  Interestingly enough, both of those games have come this year.
• At one point during Sunday's game, Andrew Luck completed 13 consecutive passes.  The streak was broken when tight end Coby Fleener dropped a wide open touchdown pass.
• Nine different players caught at least 2 passes from Andrew Luck on Sunday, including four wide receivers, three tight ends, and two running backs.
• Through three games, Ahmad Bradshaw ranks second in the league among players who qualify with 6.0 yards per carry.
• Bradshaw is also tied for fourth overall in the entire league with 3 touchdown receptions - the most among running backs.
• Adam Vinatieri is one of 13 kickers in the league who are still perfect.  Vinatieri has hit on all 6 of his field goal tries this year, including 3 from over 40 yards.
• Pat McAfee (a.k.a. the Boomstick) is leading the league in average yards per punt (52.7) and net average yards per punt (47.8).
• Per Colts.com's Kevin Bowen: "The 529 net yards of offense (385 passing and 144 rushing) were the most the Colts have piled up in nearly 10 years."
• Sunday was the 36th double-digit tackle game of D'Qwell Jackson's career.
• Darius Butler is from Florida, and he has played in four games for the Colts against the Jaguars.  The Colts are 4-0 in those games, and Butler himself has excelled.  In fact, he has accounted for at least one turnover in each of the last four contests with the Jaguars - the only four he has been a part of with the Colts.  On Sunday, he recovered a fumble.  Last year, he recovered a fumble in one game and had an interception in the other.  In 2012, Butler played in the final Colts/Jaguars game and picked off two passes (returning one for a touchdown) and also recovering a fumble.  So if you're keeping score, that's three picks and three fumble recoveries for Butler in four games with the Colts against the Jaguars.  Impressive.
• I'm not really sure what to make of this yet, but I thought I'd at least share it.  Through the first three games, Trent Richardson has been on 97 snaps.  He has 41 carries, 7 receptions, and has been targeted 9 times overall in the passing game.  In other words, on 50 snaps through the first three games Richardson was directly involved in the play, and on 48 snaps he actually got the football.  So on 49.5% of his snaps he has touched the football and on 51.5% of his snaps he has either had the ball or been the intended receiver.  Contrast that to Ahmad Bradshaw, who has been in on 113 snaps so far this year and has 25 carries, 12 catches, and has been targeted 15 times.  On only 32.7% of his snaps has he gotten the ball and on only 35.4% of his snaps has he either had the ball or been the intended receiver.  I don't know how this compares to the league average or anything like that, and it also makes sense, given the fact that Bradshaw seems to have established himself as the back the Colts use especially in no-huddle and passing situations.  Of course he won't be getting the ball as much in those situations.  But I am interested in keeping an eye on this trend, because if Richardson is really getting the ball on half of the snaps that he's in on, I'd think defenses would catch on too.  Right now, however, it's just an interesting observation.
• The Colts offense ranks third in the league in yards per game (426.0) and third in the league in points per game (31.7).  They are also third in the league in passing yards per game (303.7) and 14th in the league in rushing yards per game (122.3).
• The Colts defense ranks 29th in the league in yards allowed per game (387.7) and 27th in points per game allowed (26.0).  They are 28th in the league against the pass in terms of yards per game allowed (276.3) and are 17th in the league against the run (111.3 yards per game average).
• In weeks one and two, the Colts totaled just one sack combined - including zero last week against the Eagles.  On Sunday, they racked up four sacks.