Biggest Takeaways from Indianapolis Colts' Week 4 Win

The Indianapolis Colts won a game without quarterback Andrew Luck. 

Just keep repeating that statement. 

Somehow, someway, the Colts managed to eke out a 16-13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. It took improbable plays, silly mistakes by the Jaguars and two missed game-winning field goals, but the Colts got a win. 

The Colts desperately needed a win after starting the year 0-2, and now have two consecutive division wins to sit atop the AFC South alone. The Colts must win the AFC South in order to make the playoffs, there simply isn't another road that makes sense for them. Wins like this are critical, even if Luck was sitting out. 

But what else can we take from this game, other than how ugly the game was? What can the Colts take from this game moving forward, to use as points of improvement? 

Offensive Line Functionality Is Possible

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The Colts offensive line has been hammered with criticism to start the season. 

You can understand why, as the Colts have seen multiple drives stall via holding penalties, sacks or stuffed runs. As the Colts used the majority of the 2015 draft to stock up a weak defense, the offensive line was largely left to development. The start to 2015, which included several new players and positions, was not pretty. 

But the line played well on Sunday, and the five starters finished with a combined positive 10.9 grade from Pro Football Focus for the efforts. 

The performance emphasized a few key points: 

First, the offensive line's biggest issue has been blitz pick-up, including the running backs. The Colts have allowed far too many free rushers at quarterback Andrew Luck this year, a much bigger problem than the line simply getting over-powered consistently. Linemen getting beat or pushed back can be maneuvered around in the pocket, but free rushers are much more difficult to avoid.

The Jaguars blitzed the Colts just 32 percent of the time, compared to 45 percent for Luck in the first three weeks, per Pro Football Focus. 

Of course, the Colts also handled these blitzes better, which takes us to the second point: the offensive line looks a lot better when the team is employing a quick-strike offense. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has routinely asked the Colts to employ a lot of seven-step drops and long-developing plays, an issue for a team with a weak offensive line. 

Against the Jaguars, the Colts used more short, quick throws to keep things moving quickly. Backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is too limited to have a significant downfield passing offense, and it showed. Per Pro Football Focus, Hasselbeck averaged 2.37 seconds before his throws on Sunday, the sixth-quickest time in the league. 

Part of this is on Luck, who needs to be more decisive and make better pre-snap reads, but Hamilton could do a better job of incorporating those short elements as well. 

Discipline Matters

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Once again on Sunday, we saw basic discipline and fundamentals, or a lack thereof, play a huge part in the game. 

The Colts have been largely undisciplined to start 2015, with penalties and bad turnovers limiting the Colts' effectiveness on both sides of the ball. We saw both have a huge effect on Sunday. 

For Indianapolis, fumble issues continued. Both running back Frank Gore and his backup Josh Robinson fumbled for the second time this season, Gore's being his second on the goal line in just three games, directly costing the Colts 14 points. 

The Colts have to get hold of their turnover problem if their offense wants to have a chance at being the juggernaut it was expected to be be. 

On the flip side, the Colts had just four penalties on Sunday, the lowest total of the season and a breath of fresh air after committing 11 in each of the last two games. Meanwhile, the Jaguars committed 13 penalties for 92 yards, which tipped the balance in Indianapolis' favor considerably. 

For example, on the Colts' lone touchdown drive of the day, an 80-yard drive, the Jaguars committed five penalties for 42 yards. Four of the Colts' five first downs came via Jacksonville penalties, including three third-down conversions. 

Discipline is key in the NFL, and the Colts finally had some of it go their way on Sunday. If they can continue that trend, Chuck Pagano might just save his job. 

The Colts Need Andrew Luck

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Overall, it's hard to look at the Colts roster and be encouraged after Sunday.

It was a blessing to get a win, especially without the starting quarterback, but there was little to be encouraged about by the actual play. The Colts barely stuck with the Jaguars, the embodiment of NFL dysfunction and lack of talent over the last five years. 

Even at home against the Jaguars, however, the Colts needed help. It came in the form of two missed game-winning field goals, one at the end of regulation and one in overtime. It came in the form of Jacksonville's 13 penalties. It came in the form of Blake Bortles' horrific performance. 

Things bounced the Colts' way, outside of Gore's fumble at the goal line, and they still were a missed field goal away (twice) from losing to the dregs of the NFL. 

People will remember Matt Hasselbeck's performance as acceptable, or even good, but he averaged just six yards per attempt and piloted the Colts offense to an abysmal 4.4 yards per play. The Jaguars just sat on the line of scrimmage, stuffing the run and daring Hasselbeck to throw downfield. 

The Colts got a win without Andrew Luck, sure. But really, it was a reminder that this team desperately needs him to compete for more than a solitary Sunday win against a bad Jaguars team. 

Henry Anderson Is a Stud

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While most of the Colts defense have been additions to the disappointment pile to start 2015, rookie third-round pick Henry Anderson has been a godsend to the defensive line. 

After losing Arthur Jones for the season, the Colts needed another defensive lineman to step up as a playmaker, and so far, that's been Anderson. 

He was disruptive on Sunday once again, racking up a positive 3.3 grade from Pro Football Focus to lead the Colts defense. Anderson finished with six official tackles, including three run stops. He also was credited with five quarterback hurries, a positive sign considering the Colts' pass-rushing issues. 

For the season, Anderson now has the seventh-best overall grade from Pro Football Focus among 3-4 defensive ends, as well as the second-best run-stop percentage at the position, per Pro Football Focus. Anderson has the fourth-most "official" tackles on the team, including a team-leading six tackles for a loss. 

The Colts desperately need defensive playmakers, and it seems they may have landed one in Anderson. 

D'Qwell Jackson's Polarizing Play Epitomizes Linebacker Struggles

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The Colts linebackers are a huge weakness on a defense with multiple stress points. 

For anybody who has watched them play over the last three years, that much should be evident. 

The Colts signed former Cleveland Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson last summer in an effort to shore up the linebacker corps, but Jackson has brought with him some frustrating matchup problems, which have been no more evident than in the last two weeks. 

For one, Jackson was largely impressive against the run on Sunday, racking up 17 tackles, including six "stops." He had four of those stops in overtime, limiting the Jaguars run game to keep them at bay before the Colts' final drive. For the season, Jackson's run-stop percentage of 19 percent leads all inside linebackers in the league, per Pro Football Focus. 

Of course, Jackson also missed two tackles on Sunday, an issue that has been becoming more apparent. Jackson currently ranks 44th out of 62 inside linebackers in tackling efficiency, per Pro Football Focus. 

But you could live with a few missed tackles if Jackson played this well against the run all the time. What you can't live with are his struggles in coverage. He puts a huge hole in the middle of the field, which good quarterbacks can manipulate and take advantage of easily. 

Marcus Mariota of the Titans killed the Colts with short passes over the middle to Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker last week, and Blake Bortles was 20-of-24 for 151 yards on passes aimed 10 yards or less down the field, per Pro Football Focus. 

The Colts need strong play from their linebackers, and while Jackson was a net positive in the Jaguars game, you could see him being a huge liability against teams like New England in a couple of weeks.