The San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts played quite the entertaining game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Here are three takeaways from that contest.
When it was all said and done, the Indianapolis Colts overcame themselves on a few occasions and rallied for a 26-22 victory over the luckless San Diego Chargers.
After three games, Mike McCoy’s team has a blowout win over the Jaguars and has blown fourth-quarter leads in losses to the Chiefs and Colts. Meanwhile, Indianapolis is just happy to avoid a 0-3 start.
So what did we find out about the Bolts and Colts? Plenty.
1. Philip Rivers does more with less
Yes, the 14-year veteran coughed up the ball and was responsible for one of the Chargers’ three turnovers in Sunday’s loss. But there was no Keenan Allen, Danny Woodhead or Antonio Gates and Rivers still managed to throw for 330 yards by completing 26-of-39 throws.
His main target on the day was wideout Tyrell Williams (9 targets, 6 receptions for 69 yards) but he also made good use of rookie tight end Hunter Henry, wide receiver Travis Benjamin and running back Melvin Gordon. That quartet combined for 19 of Rivers’ completions.
2. Melvin Gordon looks like a future star
Last season was pretty forgettable if you were Gordon. He finished his first NFL season with more fumbles (6) and lost fumbles (4) than touchdowns.
Three games into 2016, he’s become a reliable and versatile option for quarterback Philip Rivers. He totaled just 78 yards from scrimmage but scored his fourth touchdown in three games in the loss to the Colts. Gordon has already totaled 54 carries in three contests and may be just warming up for what could add up to the kind of season the Chargers were expecting a year ago.
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3. Andrew Luck remains a turnover machine
Thanks to the hard-nosed quarterback and with an assist from T.Y. Hilton, the team avoided a 0-3 start on Sunday.
However, it appears that Week 1 was a bit of fool’s gold when it came to Andrew Luck and improved ball security.
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For the second straight Sunday, the fifth-year pro threw an interception and lost a fumble. Last Sunday, both of his miscues were returned for touchdowns. Against the Chargers, defensive tackle Caraun Reid scooped up Luck’s fumble and took it 61 yards for a score.
It adds up to 58 regular-season games and 107 touchdown passes compared to 73 turnovers, with three of Luck’s four turnovers this year returned for scores. There’s still work to be done.