All Is Not Lost for Indianapolis Colts in a Thoroughly Weak AFC South

We have thoroughly chronicled the bad from Indianapolis' first two losses of the season. The organizational philosophy has failed to make the Colts an upper-echelon contender in a weak AFC. The defense, now without star outside linebacker Robert Mathis, has no pass rush. 

But there are also reasons to believe that the Colts shouldn't be left for dead. Philadelphia and Denver were two of the toughest games on the schedule, and applying liberal adjustments for the quality of competition can assuage the fear that Indianapolis doesn't have the worst defense in the NFL. 

So, without further adieu, three reasons why the Colts still have a pulse:

1) Weak schedule, weak division

The rest of Indianapolis' schedule is mostly made of cake. Football Outsiders Almanac 2014 had the Colts with one of the five easiest schedules in the league coming into the season. A look at their remaining games shows little to be concerned about.

Week	Opponent	DVOA (through Week 2)
Week	Opponent	DVOA (through Week 2)
3	@ JAX	-53.1% (32)
4	v. TEN	5.5% (14)
5	v. BAL	6.7% (13)
6	@ HOU	0.1% (18)
7	v. CIN	33.1% (4)
8	@ PIT	-4.6% (22)
9	@ NYG	-52.0% (31)
10	BYE
11	v. NE	21.5% (9)
12	v. JAC	-53.1% (32)
13	v. WAS	40.4% (2)
14	@ CLE	1.6% (17)
15	v. HOU	0.1% (18)
16	@ DAL	-1.7% (19)
17	@ TEN	5.5% (14)

New England looks like a tough game on paper, but it's at home, and the Pats have had some struggles of their own. The Colts have only three games remaining against top-10 DVOA teams as of Week 2, all at home.

And it seems highly unlikely that the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins are actually as good as they've played in line dominations of the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively.

Most importantly, the Colts still have all six of their games versus the AFC South. Nobody has seized the AFC South while the Colts were dawdling.

The Houston Texans are 2-0, but their DVOA is merely 0.1 percent, and they haven't beaten anybody important yet. The other legitimate contender, the Tennessee Titans, spent the weekend watching Jake Locker regress into an embryonic state the second his underneath curl routes were taken away. Even against one of the worst defenses in the NFL, Locker couldn't really get anything started. 

Then there's Jacksonville, who allowed 10 sacks to a Washington defense that brought down Ryan Fitzpatrick zero times. It's always easier to be more optimistic about rebuilding teams in the offseason before you can focus on the positions where they have flaming tire fires. The Colts travel to Jacksonville this week, and that should jump-start them after their poor start.

2) Jack Mewhort has been an immediate contributor 

Week	QB hits	QB hurries	Pass-Blocking Rating	Run-Blocking Rating
1	1	1	1.1	-0.9
2	1	0	1.0	0.4

Despite how asinine it is that the Colts aspire to have a dominant running attack while having one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL under center, they actually reached those aspirations on Monday night. 

No one on the offensive line has been more promising than second-round guard Jack Mewhort. Mewhort demolished the Eagles defensive linemen last night and has been better than anticipated in pass protection as well.

The rookie still isn't athletic to pull around to the outside and take the second-level down, but that's hardly a black mark on his resume. Compared to what the Colts got after spending a third-rounder on guard Hugh Thornton last offseason, they should be thrilled with what they've seen out of Mewhort. 

Or to put those words into pictures:

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Here's where Mewhort starts...

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

...and here's where Mewhort finishes. Imagine if Indianapolis had a running back who could cut that to the outside instead of running right into Mewhort.

The beating that Indianapolis put on the Philadelphia front seven isn't something Indianapolis could do last year. Any glimmer of promise there is a welcome development. At least as long as it doesn't end with 300 Trent Richardson carries. But that will never happen, right? 

(Let's not ask Chuck Pagano and Pep Hamilton. We're trying to maintain optimism here.)

3) The Colts still have Andrew Luck

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Andrew Luck has not been very consistent this season. 

In the first half of each game this season, Luck has seemed worse for the focus on the run. His throws have sailed on him just a bit.

Of course, he looked excellent in the second half against Denver. As typical Andrew Luck Witchcraft Sessions have proved, Luck can win any game at any time. All he needs is the time to get hot. (And the offensive line to buy him enough time to make it happen.)

There should be no panicking on his slow start in Indy. The Colts likely would've completed a drive to take a two-score lead against the Eagles if not for a blown pass-interference call on T.Y. Hilton. Whenever the Colts ask him to be a major part of the game plan, he obliges in kind. 

And, looking at the other quarterbacks in this division, there's no question on who you'd put your chips. Luck will continue to be as good as Indianapolis lets him. Now, the Colts just need to let him.

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.