The Indianapolis Colts (2-1) came away with a 27-24 victory on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in a win over the Atlanta Falcons (1-2).
It was the first time since 2013 that the Colts had won their home opener. It wasn’t always pretty at times, especially in the second half, but the Colts came away with a win against a tough opponent.
Here’s the stock up, stock down from the Week 3 win:
Stock Up: QB Jacoby Brissett
Though Brissett’s stock was already pretty high, the 26-year-old quarterback had a career day on Sunday. He was masterful running the offense. He continues to show above-average pocket awareness and mobility and his ball placement has been impressive early on.
Brissett finished the game completing 28 of 37 passes for 310 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 118.1 passer rating. On seven drives, the Colts came away with points on five of them. That’s including the final drive when the Colts kneeled to win the game.
Andrew Luck will always be missed, but Brissett is showing he really is a top-20 quarterback in the league.
Stock Down: WR Deon Cain
The snap counts will show that Cain is primed for a bigger role and more production as the season goes on. He wound up leading the wide receiver room in snaps (56%) because of T.Y. Hilton’s quad injury, and it is the second week in a row he’s been above 45% of snaps.
However, Cain hasn’t been able to do much with his limited targets. He caught one pass for 10 yards on three targets Sunday. Cain is on the field just as much—if not more—than any other wide receiver, but he hasn’t been able to do much with it.
Brighter days are certainly ahead for Cain, but he must begin showing some production, especially if Hilton winds up missing some time.
Stock Up: WR Zach Pascal
While the Colts haven’t gotten much production from the wide receiver room outside of T.Y. Hilton, they did get a strong performance from Pascal on Sunday. The special teamer always makes and impact in the return game, but he made even more of a difference as a pass catcher.
Pascal’s big play came in the first quarter when he scored on a wheel route to give the Colts a 10-0 lead. The play design was beautiful from Frank Reich, and the execution was even better.
With Devin Funchess out and Hilton potentially hindered with the quad injury, Pascal has a chance to carve out a bigger role for himself.
Stock Down: DT Tyquan Lewis
The Colts have been shuffling around the interior defensive line to open the season. Lewis was inactive Week 1 but then played many snaps in Week 2. It appeared he had another chance to make an impact on Sunday as he was active and Jihad Ward was a healthy scratch.
However, Lewis wound up only playing eight snaps before he left the game in the second half due to an ankle injury. It’s tough to criticize a player because of injury in such a physical game, but Lewis has been constantly battling injuries this season, and he hasn’t made much of an impact when he’s on the field.
Hopefully, the ankle injury is nothing serious, but Lewis hasn’t helped his stock to open the season.
Stock Up: LB Anthony Walker
The Colts were without All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard on Sunday due to a concussion. This forced Walker to slide over from his usual MIKE position to Leonard’s WILL spot in the middle of the defense. The third-year linebacker was magnificent leading the defense.
Walker led the Colts defenders in snaps (100%), tackles (14), solo tackles (11) and tackles for loss (2.0). The Northwestern product was all over the field on Sunday, making an impact on play after play.
The Colts may have a new influx of rookie linebackers eager to see more playing time, but Walker was truly a stud leading the defense.
Stock Down: Pass Rush
There are simply too many players at fault here to single out one guy. The entire unit struggled on Sunday against an offensive line that was vulnerable to pressure. There were some times when Kemoko Turay flashed and Justin Houston collapsed the pocket, but it was far too inconsistent.
The Colts wound up only getting four quarterback hits on Matt Ryan while recording zero sacks. The way to beat a quarterback like him is to pressure him constantly. They failed to do so, and Ryan almost led a major comeback in the second half.
The unit still shouldn’t be viewed as a concern, but the consistency has to be there on a weekly basis if the entire defensive unit is going to thrive.
Stock Up: K Adam Vinatieri
Vinatieri gave the Colts a bit of a scare on his first field goal attempt of the game, bouncing his kick off the upright and eventually going through for three points. But outside of that, the 46-year-old kicker was perfect. Vinatieri quelled any concerns about kicking at home as he converting all five of his attempts on Sunday. Two were field goals (49, 21) while the other three were extra-point attempts. This is still a situation to monitor, but Vinatieri seems to be back.
