Andrew Luck and an Aggressive Game Plan Have Colts Offense Rolling

Another week, another lopsided Indianapolis Colts win. 

Is anybody getting a Peyton Manning-era Colts feel?

This Colts team, under this management, has never looked like this. The coaches have never looked this aggressive. Andrew Luck has never looked this good, not two weeks in a row. 

Over the last two weeks, the Colts scored more than 40 points in consecutive games, the first time the Luck-led Colts have accomplished the feat (2004 was the last time the franchise saw it happen). Luck has been fantastic, accruing over 763 yards in that span. 

What got into this team? 

Ah, yes, the AFC South. Combined, the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars are 1-7 with a minus-144 point differential. Only Oakland has as low of a point differential as the Titans, and the Jaguars have lost by 42 more points than any other team in the league. 

The AFC South is simply at a different level than the rest of the league, and not in a good way. The Houston Texans are a decent team, but the Colts haven't had to visit J.J. Watt and company quite yet. 

"

Under Pagano, the Colts are now 12-2 vs. AFC South teams. They're 13-12 (inc. playoffs) against everyone else.

— Derek Schultz (@Schultz1260) September 28, 2014"

So what does that mean about the Colts' recent offensive dominance? Does it mean anything, or is it just a temporary blip on the radar? 

There's a certain level of adjustment that needs to be applied, but the utter dominance can't be ignored completely. 

Coaching to Win

After two weeks, Colts fans had something to complain about. The Colts coaches had put the offense in some laughable situations after two weeks with the play-calling and odd personnel groupings, and fans were not happy about it. 

Twitter was rife with criticism, and comment sections were filled with calls for offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton's job. 

But then came the game in Jacksonville, where the coaching staff was aggressive from the get-go, including going for a 4th-and-1 from the Jacksonville 4-yard line in the third quarter. While the Colts had zero passing plays that gained 20-plus yards against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, they came out and pushed the ball down the field against Jacksonville with eight such plays. 

And the coaches were praised. 

Sure, the Colts' two starting running backs ran for 5.3 yards per carry, but the Colts only handed the ball off to them 23 times, while Luck dropped back 44 times. The win was built on Luck's broad shoulders and the ability to aggressively throw the ball downfield, rather than focus on quick hitters looking for yards after the catch. 

Then, the aggression continued in the Colts' win over Tennessee, epitomized with Pat McAfee's surprise onside kick in the first quarter, as the Colts led 7-0. As McAfee chipped the ball up and over the first line of defense, reserve tight end Jack Doyle blocked a clear path for Griff Whalen to swoop in and snag the floating kick. 

A seven-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Allen later, and the Colts had a 14-0 lead. The lead would never go back to single digits again. 

But while the Colts opening the games with strong passing attacks were a great sign, both because of the team's preparedness to start each contest and the willingness to put the game in Luck's hands, the most reassuring move was how long they continued to allow Luck to be aggressive. 

With double-digit leads in the second half of both games, one would assume that Pagano and Hamilton—who have been painfully conservative at times—would move to the ground game to churn the clock in the second half. Instead, the Colts went for the jugular with their bread and butter: Andrew Luck. 

Four of the Colts' eight "big" plays through the air came in the second half of the Jaguars game. Luck threw the ball 12 times for 126 yards and a touchdown in that second half, while the Colts handed off to Ahmad Bradshaw and Trent Richardson just 11 times.

That aggression was shown again in the Titans game, with fantastic results. The Colts came out in the second half up 10 points and scored touchdowns on their first three drives, ballooning the lead to 24 and putting the game out of reach. 

There was no "grinding" or "managing the clock." This was, plain and simple, dominance. The Colts put the heel on the jugular and finished the Titans before they had any hope of getting back in the game. 

Good teams dominate lesser opponents. It's a better indication of future success than winning close games against good opponents, in fact. 

The Colts have done that over the last two weeks, and the bulk of the credit goes to the offense and the coaches, both for having the team prepared and for finishing the games the same way they started: aggressive and with the ball in Luck's hands. 

Don't Crown Him, But Still 

Ah, yes, that Andrew Luck fellow. 

I guess you could say he's pretty good. 

Luck finished 29-of-41 for 393 yards and four touchdowns, taking zero sacks and throwing one interception (123.3 rating). It brings his two-game totals to 60-of-80 for 763 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 134.4.

Let that sink in. 

Sure, those are against two poor AFC South opponents. Don't let the Titans' fourth-ranked pass defense (by Football Outsiders' DVOA) prior to the game fool you. The Titans had gotten run over by Cincinnati and Dallas in previous weeks, and they simply didn't need to throw the ball to be successful. It's a poor defense, as is Jacksonville, and Luck will need to have a strong game against a non-AFC South opponent before he's taken seriously as an MVP candidate.

But regardless, the numbers that Luck put together are astounding. To put it in perspective, Daunte Culpepper (2004) is the only other quarterback in NFL history to have two consecutive games throwing for over 350 yards and four touchdowns with a 70 percent completion percentage. 

It doesn't matter what level of competition you're playing against, these are still NFL teams. 

The climax for Luck came in the second half of the Titans game.

While Luck was good in the first half, he had a rare mistake at the end of the half, failing to see a floating linebacker in the flat until it was too late and throwing an interception. Instead of potentially going up 27-3 entering the half, the Titans got the ball on the Colts' 25, leading to a touchdown and a 20-10 score going into halftime. 

Luck needed to rebound from the poor play, and rebound he did. 

The Colts went on three consecutive touchdown drives to start the second half, with Luck going 12-of-13 for 175 yards and three touchdowns on the drives. It was simply surgical, reminiscent of drives that Colts fans have seen Peyton Manning put together for years. 

It was, to put it simply, flawless. 

For this team, the key has always been Andrew Luck. Could the Colts coaches put him in the best position to succeed, squeeze the most production out of him and build a league-leading offense. 

After the season's first two weeks, that notion was in serious doubt. But during Weeks 3-4, the downfield passing attack has emerged with a bang. 

Sure, it's the AFC South, and the Baltimore Ravens will be a much better litmus test in Week 5. 

But give the Colts coaches credit for changing the approach and making downfield passing a priority. And give Andrew Luck even more credit for passing the test with flying colors.