Colts roll into playoffs by roughing up Jaguars

Stephen Holder | USA TODAY Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — It's playoff time. And in the NFL, that's when big-time quarterbacks shine. So, to put it another way, it's Andrew Luck's time.

The Indianapolis Colts' 24-year old star led his team to a seemingly effortless 30-10 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, a playoff warmup that capped an impressive 11-5 regular season.

Next up, the Kansas City Chiefs in next week's AFC wild-card matchup.

Luck gave Chiefs coach Andy Reid and company something to think about with his efficient, surgical performance against the Jaguars. In three quarters of work — he gave way to backup Matt Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter — Luck completed 26-of-37 passes for 282 yards with one touchdown pass.

It was one of his best games of the season, not only based on his numbers but also based on his continued stretch of error-free football. For the regular season, he threw 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions (only once in his career has Peyton Manning thrown that few). Luck finishes the season with eight touchdowns and one interception in his final four games, a rather fine way to enter the postseason and the kind of play that provides a blueprint for winning in the playoffs.

"I do feel like I have improved," Luck said, with a bit of prodding. "And I feel like this offense, this team has improved."

The Colts, wisely so, have put the ball in Luck's hands more in recent weeks. They have ramped up their use of the no-huddle offense, trusting the cool-under-fire quarterback to handle the offense ably while positioning him to take advantage of the resulting defensive mismatches.

And the Colts have gotten more aggressive offensively, taking several deep shots in the opening quarter on Sunday that paved the way to a season-best 17 first-quarter points. Luck threw lasers in between tight coverage to T.Y. Hilton and Coby Fleener and Griff Whalen, looking as confident as you've ever seen.

That's largely a product of Luck and his batch of misfit receivers becoming more attuned to each other.

Hilton, the star in Reggie Wayne's absence, caught 11 receptions for 155 yards, both career highs. Among them was a game-long 41-yard strike from Luck. But the other 10 receivers who caught passes from Luck — yes, he completed passes to 11 receivers — were mostly a cast of recent arrivals. Of the 11, only five played in the season opener against the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 8.

That means Luck has been steadily getting better despite throwing to targets who, in some cases, weren't even expected to be on the roster. While New England's Tom Brady gets loads of credit for making something out of nothing because of the weaknesses in this receiving corps, there's a strong argument to be made that Luck's done the very same thing.

"I think (they're developing) continuity, chemistry," coach Chuck Pagano said. "The young guys (have) come around from a receiver standpoint. ... I think the quarterback is obviously feeling a lot more comfortable. Again, everybody is loading the box on us and challenging the young wide receivers. The quarterback has done a great job of managing the game, taking care of the football and we know how special a player and leader Andrew is. He can make those throws."

The consistency and excellence was always there from Luck. But now that he's getting more help, perhaps it's become easier to see it.

"I think Andrew's been playing great all season. I think it's about time some of us start catching up," right tackle Gosder Cherilus said. "I think the (offensive) line is doing its job, guys are running well and catching it well. We're starting to see his greatness."

As great as Luck can be, he won't have to do it all himself.

The defense on Sunday was stellar. In fact, it's been good for the duration of the Colts' current three-game winning streak, allowing 3, 7 and 10 points against the Houston Texans, Chiefs and Jaguars in consecutive weeks.

The pass rush has been consistent, with the Colts getting three takedowns of Jags quarterback Chad Henne on Sunday while delivering eight quarterback hits. Linebacker Jerrell Freeman had another stat-packed performance with eight tackles, a sack, two pass deflections and a forced fumble.

The Jaguars finished with 350 total yards, but 156 of them came in the fourth quarter, at which point many Colts starters had one foot in the shower.

It's a nice combination the Colts have put together, an efficient offense that recorded a league-low and franchise-record-low 14 turnovers and a defense that has proven it can get stops and attack the quarterback.

That's a formula that can work in the playoffs, where the Colts are now headed.

"I think there's a bit of a rhythm that we've found," Luck said. "And it's good. I'm glad we're playing decent football going into the postseason. We know the postseason's a whole different ball game and one-and-done, and we're excited about that."

But here's something else a Colts fan should be excited about: Having a chance to watch Luck in the postseason, where Joe Montana and Steve Young and Brady made their names.

It's playoff time. It's Luck's time.

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Holder also writes for The Indianapolis Star