Indianapolis Colts vs Baltimore Ravens: Duds and Studs

Oct 5, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts defender Bjoern Werner(92) goes up against a Baltimore Ravens defender in the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Colts won, 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sportss

The Indianapolis Colts (3-2) won their toughest matchup all year against the Baltimore Ravens (3-2). It was a sloppy game filled with turnovers, but the Colts came out on top in a rugged matchup.

Some guys challenged the Ravens and turned in fantastic performances while others didn’t perform so well. Let’s take a look at this week’s duds and studs:

Studs:

Bjoern Werner: Werner had the best game of his Indianapolis Colts career and it’s not even close to his previous performances. For the first time this season, Werner was a dominant force in the pass rush and caused Joe Flacco to rush his throws. He logged two sacks in the game as well as multiple quarterback hurries. The Colts had been patiently waiting on his development as a quick linebacker that could get past offensive tackles and it’s finally paid off. Werner will look to continue his momentum against Houston after a short week.

T.Y. Hilton: Something about Hilton’s game has been off lately, but he had a solid day against the Ravens. He recorded nine catches for 90 yards, but the stat that is most telling is the zero in the drops column. Hilton’s been struggling with his drops on easy routes and recorded none in this game. Hilton almost got his first touchdown of the season only to be called back due to a penalty on Reggie Wayne. Hopefully Hilton’s positive gains in the passing game continue; having both him and Reggie Wayne healthy has been a huge help for the Colts’ offense.

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Sergio Brown: Brown had no clue that he’d be starting this game at the beginning of the week, but he had a great debut starting in place of the suspended LaRon Landry. Brown was able to defense a few passes while also registering a sack on a safety blitz. He did blow one or two coverages deep on the field, but the players he was covering were always overthrown. He had great starting debut for the Colts and looks to be a mainstay at safety for the rest of the season.

Vontae Davis: This guy is an All-Pro right now. He’s having a great season and a huge interception return that set up an Indy score helped cement that. Davis held Steve Smith to just 34 yards; certainly not an easy task. He’s been looking really good in past games and will look to continue his string of dominance in the Indianapolis secondary.

Duds:

Andrew Luck: There’s always a pang of guilt when listing Andrew Luck in the “dud” column. Many young quarterbacks in the league would kill to have a game that Andrew Luck had against the Ravens. However, he didn’t look wonderful. Both interceptions (while great plays by the Ravens) were his fault and he was saved from a couple very bad decisions late in the game as well. Every quarterback has a down game and it’s nothing for Luck to hang his head over. On the plus side, he was able to use his feet a little bit more in this game and looked good doing it.

Jerrell Freeman: In his first game back from a hamstring injury, Freeman did nothing to impress Colts fans. The run-stopping game was already good and, with Freeman back in the lineup, it was expected to be great. On the contrary, Freeman allowed quite a few open runs and missed some tackles. He also didn’t do much for the Colts in terms of coverage, allowing tight end Owen Daniels five catches for 70 yards down the middle of the field.

Erik Walden: Something of a disappointing game from the Colts previous sack leader. He wasn’t able to log any sacks while also not getting to Joe Flacco once in the whole game. He was aptly handled on the outside and couldn’t make anything resembling a pass rush come from the right side of the formation. A tough day for him, but it opened up the possibility for Bjoern Werner to get some positive plays on his side of the formation.

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