The Indianapolis Colts were the favorites to win the AFC South before Andrew Luck retired. Funny enough, they still might be the favorites to win that division.

Jacoby Brissett has been pretty good.

He played very well on Sunday as the Colts won 27-24 against the Atlanta Falcons. Brissett completed his first 16 passes to start the game. He was 21-of-27 for 218 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions at halftime. He finished with 310 yards.

Nobody can completely replace Luck. He was a fantastic player. But Brissett isn’t too bad himself and the Colts have a much better team than they had in 2017, the last time Brissett was forced into the lineup to replace Luck.

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It seemed premature when the Colts gave Brissett a two-year, $30 million deal right after Luck’s retirement. Now it looks like it could be a smart investment. Brissett has a 112 passer rating through three games. The Colts seemed to open up the offense against Atlanta and Brissett was up for that challenge. Luck was great but prone to throwing interceptions. Brissett has one INT on 92 attempts this season and his 1.3 interception percentage in his career would be the best in NFL history if he had enough attempts to qualify.

Brissett might not be Luck, but he is better than a lot of people gave him credit for. If he continues to play this well he’ll be in line for a huge payday after the 2020 season, and the Colts might end up winning a division title after all.

Who else in the AFC South is all that impressive? Houston is 2-1 but there are still issues on that roster, especially with depth. The Jaguars are 1-2 with rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew starting (though he has looked pretty good at times). The Titans have lost two straight after a season-opening win at the Browns, and they don’t look very good.

The Colts were pretty much left for dead after Luck’s surprise retirement. Then they battled in their opener, losing an overtime game at the Los Angeles Chargers. They came back in Week 2 and won at the Titans. The Colts look like they’ll battle the Texans for the top spot in that division all season, even with their franchise quarterback in early retirement.

Frank Reich is a very good coach. The Colts have a very good roster from top to bottom. And surprisingly enough, they’re not missing Luck very much through three games.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been a nice story since Andrew Luck's retirement. (AP) More

Here are the NFL Power Rankings after Week 3 of the season:

32. Miami Dolphins (0-3, Last week: 32)

The Dolphins have not led once this season. There’s a chance we’re watching the worst team in NFL history (yes, the 1976 Buccaneers, but they had the excuse of being an expansion team).

31. New York Jets (0-3, LW: 29)

In a strange way, Adam Gase probably is better off with Sam Darnold missing as much time as possible. If Darnold comes back and the Jets still are awful — and this is possible — is there any reason to bring Gase back for Year 2? At least the quarterback health issues would give him an excuse for this year.

30. Washington Redskins (0-3, LW: 31)

Had the Redskins rolled over after that 28-0 start on Monday night, Jay Gruden might not have survived to Week 4. Not that a meaningless second-half rally should determine his job status, but at least it was something. The first half on Monday night was miserable.

29. Cincinnati Bengals (0-3, LW: 27)

Cincinnati has lost two very close road games. There have been some positive signs, but it’s still an 0-3 start with rookie head coach Zac Taylor. He has a challenge not letting his team get discouraged.

28. Denver Broncos (0-3, LW: 26)

Some bad turnovers and a bad holding call on a Royce Freeman touchdown turned their game at Green Bay around. The Broncos didn’t play that poorly. But they’re getting no big plays out of the defense, which is shocking for a Vic Fangio unit with Von Miller and Bradley Chubb. They’re the first team to go three games without a sack or turnover since sacks became an official stat in 1982, according to Nicky Jhabvala of The Athletic. That’s hard to believe.