CHI - CAR
BAL - CIN
IND - JAX
HOU - BUF
WAS - CLE
Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars 34-37
INDIANAPOLIS
Joe Flacco was one Mo Alie-Cox drop away from winning this game. 34 points is the most by the Colts since Week 7 of last year (Gardner Minshew vs Browns). They can make it work offensively without Jonathan Taylor and without Anthony Richardson due to a very deep WR corps and solid playcalling.
Alec Pierce continues his downfield dominance, racking up his third 100+ yard performance of the season. He's tough and strong at the catch point in ways that Adonai Mitchell is not. So as much as the Colts truly do like Mitchell's unique route running skillset - 7 targets on 19 snaps (often deployed as single side X for isolation matchups), he won't be leaping Alec or Josh until he starts finishing at the catch point.
JACKSONVILLE
Trevor Lawrence played well on the other side. The Colts secondary is so weak that the productivity was very predictable - made a nice chunk betting Brian Thomas over 100 rec yds (+600) and stacking with TLaw passing yards. Nice statement game from him as he hit most of his deep attempts and was on time getting to curls & comebacks. This throw to Brian Thomas was a straight up heat check after hitting deep to Kirk and Brian already (he did not have the heat).
This offense has all the pieces it needs to be successful. Tank Bigsby looks much more explosive than he did at Auburn. He'll continue to form a solid tandem with Travis Etienne throughout the season. They may flip back and forth 60/40 or 40/60, but a committee is a committee.
On Brian Thomas specifically, he has been the offensive focal point in previous weeks, but the connection is growing more consistent. He's answered every question you could ask and if these plays become automatic, Trevor will have the security blanket he needs.
Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers 36-10
CHICAGO
I've defended Caleb Williams through the first few games in anticipation that he would start to look like the USC star soon enough. He's still not there. It's nice to see Williams perform well statistically, but his performance against the Panthers was more of the same. Caleb is still figuring out how much time he has in the pocket and he looks to be distracted as he cycles reads. The protection against the Panthers was excellent. He had all day to throw, but he missed open receivers that you would expect to be part of his normal progression. His eyes bounced all over the place. In the first two plays below, he skips multiple open receivers before eventually scrambling out.
