Indianapolis Colts vs Jacksonville Jaguars: Duds and Studs

Sep 21, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwayne Allen (83) fights for yardage as Jacksonville Jaguars linebackers Paul Posluszny (51) and Telvin Smith (50) try to bring him down in the fourth quarter of their game at EverBank Field. The Colts won 44-17. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

The Indianapolis Colts (1-2) played a spectacular game on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3), winning 44-17. The team looked the most crisp that it has all year and the ball was moving on offense. Defensively, the Jaguars were held to zero first half points and only 14 on a Blake Bortles resurge near the end of the game.

Let’s take a look at this week’s duds and studs.

Studs:

Andrew Luck: It would be impossible to have a “stud” column and not include Andrew Luck. Luck was on fire against Jacksonville. He finished the game 31/39 370 yards with four touchdowns and no picks. His 140.4 quarterback rating is the highest of his career. Luck also contributed on the ground for 15 yards. Other than a few miscues on the opening drive, Luck was absolutely flawless on the day. He may have performed even more admirably, had it not been for a few drops from his receivers. He put the ball where it needed to be on every throw and rarely let an arrant throw go. He was the best player on the field on Sunday against Jacksonville.

Greg Toler: It’s not like he’s covering Megatron or anything, but Toler had a great day at cornerback. He picked up an interception on the day and it was an absolutely beautiful pick-six. He was solid in both man and zone coverage against Jacksonville’s lackluster passing attack. He never let the opposing wide receiver gain any space on him and knew exactly when to jump the ball on throws in his direction. To this point, quarterbacks have the second lowest QBR in the NFL when throwing to Toler than any other starting cornerback. The kicker is that the best corner in regards to this stat is Vontae Davis, who also got a pick on Sunday. The cornerback duo is doing really good things for this Colts team.

Erik Walden: It may have been Jacksonville’s terrible offensive line, but Erik Walden looks to on the rise for Indianapolis. Against the Jaguars, Walden got four tackles and a sack while also setting the edge really well on the Jaguars’ outside running plays. Since Robert Mathis’ suspension and injury, the Colts have been looking for someone to step up in his place and Walden may be that guy. He knows how to get to the quarterback and consistently gives as much effort as he can on every play.

Duds:

(Note: finding duds in this game was really hard. This team played well all-around.)

Bjoern Werner: As Walden is excelling, Werner has not lived up at all to expectations. After being given his first favorable matchup of the season, Werner responded with no sacks and being hung up in the passing game. He still has burst off the line, but gets eliminated as a threat as soon as he’s picked up by an offensive lineman. It remains to be seen whether Werner can still be the new Mathis in Indianapolis, but he’s looking like a bust with his play right now.

Mike Adams: While the defense was really good all game, Blake Bortles’ crazy offensive burst has to be put on someone on defense. I’ll hand that blame to Mike Adams, who didn’t do a spectacular job at safety this week. He did a good job coming up and defending against the run and did decently against Chad Henne’s offense. However, when the rookie QB came in, Adams seemed to pump the brakes a bit. He certainly didn’t play all 60 minutes, allowing some terribly gruesome missed tackles, including an Allen Hurns scamper to the end zone.