The Colts are officially at the top of the AFC leaderboard.
Yes, the entire AFC. The Colts improved to 6-1 with their 38-24 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, making them the only team in the conference with just one loss through the first seven weeks of the season.
And ahead of Monday Night Football – a doubleheader with the 5-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. the 4-2 Detroit Lions and the 2-3 Houston Texans vs. the 4-2 Seattle Seahawks – the Colts are the only team in the league with six wins.
A loss by the Buccaneers would give the Colts the best record in the NFL. That's something very few people outside the Colts organization thought could be possible before the season started. But the Colts never wavered in their belief in Daniel Jones, and they're reaping all the benefits as everything seems to just keep going right for the quarterback and his team.
They're the only AFC South team that can say that.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are now 4-3, fighting against themselves as much as they are their opponents. The Houston Texans are 2-3, on a two-game win streak but still searching for consistency. And the Tennessee Titans, at 1-6, just keep floundering.
Jaguars struggle in all phases in loss to Rams
Everything went wrong very quickly for the Jaguars Sunday morning at Wembley Stadium. That's the simplest way to put it. Their 35-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams was filled with self-inflicted errors, a porous offensive line and a defense that couldn't find any answers.
Trevor Lawrence was sacked seven times. The defense didn't force any takeaways, for the second consecutive week. As a team, the Jaguars committed 13 penalties for 119 yards and were 3-of-15 on third down.
"Everything we said we didn't want to do, did occur," head coach Liam Coen said. "So, starts with me. Got to figure it out."
Lawrence pointed to slow starts and penalties as points of emphasis for the offense, saying they need to be able to find ways to finish on drives and keep each other accountable.
"It's not like we didn't have a good plan or anything like that," he said. "Some self-inflicted wounds. If we can clean that up and just stay on schedule, we have to make those corrections and do it, but I think that's where you're seeing the slow starts and then we're getting behind."
Lawrence finished the game 23-of-48 for 296 yards and one touchdown – rookie Travis Hunter's first NFL touchdown was the lone highlight of the game – as he struggled to connect with his receivers, and his receivers struggled to catch the football.
Wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. had two drops on Sunday, continuing to be a liability on offense now with six drops this season, per PFF. He wasn't the only one to come up short on big plays, but his mistakes were among the most noticeable.
"We obviously need to make sure we're in a position with our hands, with our violent to the tuck, with the way we're looking the ball in," Coen said. "And also ball placement, making sure the ball is in the right spots. All that stuff. I think there's a combination of things. Still, we got to keep throwing it, though. I mean, we can't go running it, running it, running it. It's just the way it goes."
For what it's worth, the Jaguars had 19 carries for 94 yards on Sunday.
The Jaguars will have an extended period to try to rebound from the "frustrating" loss, as they are on a bye in Week 8. They next face the Las Vegas Raisers at Allegiant Stadium in Week 9.
Titans shut out in second half vs. Patriots
For a moment, it looked like the Titans had a chance. They scored quickly on their first two possessions and seemed to finally have a bit of momentum as they took on the New England Patriots at Nissan Stadium under interim head coach Mike McCoy.
But just as quickly as their hopes began to rise, they fell. The Patriots turned the tide in the second quarter, scoring touchdowns on consecutive drives. The Titans were able to kick a field goal in the second quarter, but that would be their last scoring drive of the afternoon as they went on to lose 31-13.
"We got off to a fast start, exactly what we wanted to do as a football team," McCoy said. "It's disappointing the way the game went after the end of the first half...offensively, we can't get shut out in the second half and do what we did."
Quarterback Cam Ward started out strong and completed a total of 25-of-34 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown, but he was sacked five times, threw an interception and lost the ball on a key play that set up a Patriots touchdown in the third quarter to seal the game.
"That's something that can't happen," McCoy said about Ward's turnovers. We've got to avoid that, and there's going to be —listen. You're going to have some mistakes. There's going to be some things like that that come up, but it's happened too often in the last couple of weeks. It's something we harp on, we talk about it all the time and players got to go out there and play, and we got to do a better job as coaches also."
On the ground, the Titans were limited to just 39 rushing yards on 12 carries; the Patriots had 36 carries for 175 yards. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye completed 21-of-23 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns as well. He was sacked four times but did not turn the ball over.
Additionally, defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons (hamstring) and L'Jarius Sneed (quad) left the game with their respective injuries and did not return.
The Colts will meet the Titans for the second time this season next Sunday, this time at Lucas Oil Stadium. In their previous matchup, the Colts won 41-20 as Jonathan Taylor rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns.
