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A weekly examination of the Colts’ ESPN.com Power Ranking:

Preseason: 10 | Last week: 9 | ESPN.com Power Ranking since 2002

The five remaining undefeated teams are the only things standing between the Indianapolis Colts and a top-five ranking. So an argument can’t be made that the Colts aren’t getting any respect in this week’s rankings. I was a little surprised the Dolphins are ranked a spot behind the Colts since they beat Indianapolis on the road in Week 2. Voters John Clayton and Dan Graziano feel the same way because they had the Dolphins ranked higher than the Colts. The Colts are the fourth-best team in the AFC based off this week's rankings. They should move up even higher if they beat the undefeated Seattle Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday. With a win against Seattle, the Colts should move past at least Kansas City because the Chiefs are playing Tennessee, which is without starting quarterback Jake Locker (hip).

Here’s where each voter ranked the Colts this week:

Ashley Fox: 6

Mike Sando: 6

Kevin Seifert: 5

John Clayton: 7

Dan Graziano: 8

Jamison Hensley: 6

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts receiver LaVon Brazill returned to the team Monday after serving his mandatory four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Brazill is able to practice but there’s no guarantee he’ll be on the active roster for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Colts have a one-week roster exemption they can use before activating him. Coach Chuck Pagano said they haven’t decided yet if will activate Brazill.

“He’s been here the whole time (during the suspension),” Pagano said. “Only thing he couldn’t do is practice. But he could meet, lift in the weight room and do all those kind of things. Couldn’t do anything with the team. So he stayed in it mentally so now we get the luxury of bringing him back out and letting him practice now.”

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Colts activate Brazill for Sunday’s game after he practices all week because of they have a shortage of receivers. The Colts released receiver Griff Whalen on Monday to make room for fullback Robert Hughes. That leaves Reggie Wayne, Darrius Heyward-Bey, TY Hilton and David Reed as the only receivers on the active roster.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The AFC South was supposed to belong to the Houston Texans this season. The Texans were supposed to take the next step in the playoffs by pushing Denver and New England. Some even called them Super Bowl contenders. The Colts were supposed to just close the gap some on the Texans.

But the Texans are struggling (they blew a 20-3 lead and lost to Seattle in overtime on Sunday) and Houston ESPN.com reporter Tania Ganguli is spending quite a bit of time writing about the struggles of quarterback Matt Schaub.

The Texans are 2-2 and looking up at the Colts and the Tennessee Titans -- yes the Titans -- in the division.

Speaking of the Titans, they took a substantial hit with quarterback Jake Locker going down with a hip injury. Locker could miss 4-8 weeks, sources told ESPN Insider Adam Schefter.

Locker’s unfortunate injury and Houston’s problems gives the Colts an opportunity to get some space in the division. It won’t be easy, though, because the Colts host the Seahawks (4-0) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Sunday. The Colts also have to go on the road to play at San Diego and host undefeated Denver on Oct. 20. The Denver game is already going to be huge because Peyton Manning is returning to Indy, but can you imagine how big the game will be if the Broncos are still undefeated and the Colts only have one loss when they play each other?

The Titans have it worse than the Colts -- and I’m not just talking about Locker's injury. They’ve got three games against teams that should make the playoffs or be in contention for a spot late in the season.

It wasn't an accident that I didn't mention the Jacksonville Jaguars. They may not even win a game this season.

An examination of five topics from the Indianapolis Colts’ 37-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Feeling at home: Colts nickelback Darius Butler is making Jacksonville a second home. Butler intercepted a Blaine Gabbert pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown on Sunday. The touchdown was the second in as many games in Jacksonville for Butler. He had two interceptions, a touchdown, a fumble recovery and two passes defended in the Colts' win at Jacksonville on Nov. 8, 2012. Butler was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in that game. “I’m originally from Ft. Lauderdale, so I guess it’s the Florida ties I have here,” Butler said, laughing.

A lot of carries, not a lot of yards: Running back Trent Richardson got his first start in place of the injured Ahmad Bradshaw. Richardson got a lot of carries (20), but he had a difficult time finding running room. He finished with only 60 yards rushing, with 12 yards being his longest run. Donald Brown rushed for more yards (65) than Richardson on 17 fewer carries. Richardson is averaging only 2.9 yards a carry. Bradshaw’s status for next week’s showdown against Seattle is uncertain. It’ll be interesting to see who coach Chuck Pagano starts if Bradshaw is ready to play. “I feel real good,” Richardson said. “I know the big run is going to come. I know I have to contribute more to the offense, but when it comes to the time where it’s play-action and they’re not touching [quarterback Andrew] Luck and our receivers are catching the ball, that’s also a good day for me.”

Continuing the winning ways: The Colts ended September with a 3-1 record and tied with Tennessee for first place in the AFC South. The Colts have a league-best 26-10 record in September games since 2003 -- one more victory in that span than New England and Seattle.

Pounding it on the ground: Richardson has gotten off to a slow start in his two games with Indianapolis, but that hasn’t stopped the Colts from continuing to be a balanced team. The Colts have rushed for at least 100 yards in all four games this season. The team record for consecutive 100-yard games to open the season is five. They can tie the record when they face a Seattle defense that is giving up 109 yards a game on the ground this season. The Colts are fourth in the league in rushing at 149.5 yards a game. The Colts have run the ball 121 times compared to 131 pass attempts. That's pretty balanced.

Reed finally makes his debut: Do you remember receiver/kick returner David Reed? It’s OK if his name doesn’t ring a bell. Reed was acquired for running back Delone Carter from Baltimore in training camp, but he spent the first three weeks of the season dealing with a concussion and quad injury. Reed finally made his debut Sunday. He returned two kickoffs for 45 yards. The goal is for Reed to be the team’s kick returner if he can remain healthy.

Indy Star columnist Bob Kravitz writes about how the Colts didn’t fall for the trap of letting the winless Jaguars beat them, and how owner Jim Irsay was enjoying himself on Twitter during the game.

Stephen Holder, also of The Star, writes about how Andrew Luck got off to a slow start as the defense carried the Colts early, but then the second-year quarterback got it going in the second half.

Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union credits the Colts for having their way against the Jaguars, maintaining possession for almost 20 of the 30 minutes in the second half.

ESPN colleague John Clayton says don't read too much into Trent Richardson only gaining 60 yards on his 20 carries, because the Colts were missing a couple of offensive linemen.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck didn’t need anybody to tell him how he played during the early part of the Colts' 37-3 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He went ahead and owned up to it at the start of his postgame news conference.

“It wasn’t an ideal start,” Luck said. “It was more of a terrible start to the game offensively for us.”

Luck couldn’t have said it better.

It looked like Luck was going to have a long afternoon against the Jaguars.

On one interception, Jaguars cornerback Will Blackmon didn’t have to move because receiver TY Hilton went to the outside, and Luck threw to the inside. Luck was bailed out by the Jaguars because they were offsides on another interception. There were more miscommunication issues with Hilton in the half.

The two interceptions happened on the Colts' first two offensive series.

“It was the wrong throw for me,” Luck said. “TY ran the right routes and everything. I put it in the wrong spot. We know we can’t survive on our mistakes like that every week. I’ll hopefully improve, get better and we’ll continue to roll.”

You just knew Luck wasn’t going to struggle all afternoon against Jacksonville’s secondary. He finally got it going to finish 22-of-36 for 260 yards and two touchdowns to go with his one interception.

“Listening to him talk and talking to him, he did get off to a slow start, but he is an even-keeled guy,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “We go back to the process, 60 minutes, one play at a time, and judge. He is one of those guys who can put things behind him and move on.”

Luck got rolling on the first two offensive possessions of the third quarter. He found tight end Coby Fleener wide open for 31-yard touchdown on a play where it seemed like playing defense was optional for Jacksonville. Then Luck led the Colts on a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne on their next possession.

“We know they’re tough physical guys, but coming out of halftime we said let’s put a scoring drive together,” Luck said. “I think guys sort of relaxed a little bit. I know I did, and just played football.”

Things were going so well for Luck in the second half that you forgot he started slow because he sat out the final 4:49 of the game, ending his string of taking every regular-season snap since the Colts selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2012.

“I think we knew we were a better offense than what we showed,” Luck said. “It’s a credit to Jacksonville. They really put us in some tough spots.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano had every intention of running to a local Lowes to purchase enough mousetraps to go in each player’s locker last week.

Pagano joked that he decided not to go because he didn’t want somebody to take a picture of him in the store and put it on any social media sites.

The traps were eventually purchased, because the coach was determined to get his message across that they were not going to have a letdown against the winless Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday after they beat the San Francisco 49ers the week prior.

A loss to the Jaguars couldn't happen if they expected to continue to gain momentum and have a chance to win the AFC South.

Message received.

The Colts were never really threatened in their 37-3 victory against the Jaguars.

“We talked after the 49ers game that human nature is hard to fight,” Pagano said. “You start reading all the nice things, you start patting yourself on the back and you get complacent, then you get your tail kicked. You have to prepare and you have to focus and you have to grind and you have to stick to the process. I’m going to keep beating it and beating it with these guys, that we’re not going to get complacent and we’re going to stay sharp and we’re going to stay focused.”

The win set the stage for next week’s game against the undefeated Seattle Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Colts are tied with Tennessee atop the AFC South with a 3-1 record.

“It was great that coach did that,” cornerback Greg Toler said. “Don’t buy into the hype, don’t be overly confident. You can be confident, but don’t be cocky.”

The Colts refused to look ahead at the schedule. The only thing they would talk about heading into Sunday was the Jaguars, because they knew there was a possibility they could be beaten.

It didn’t take long to realize they were focused strictly on Jacksonville.

The Colts led 20-3 and limited Jacksonville to 69 yards in the first half. The Jaguars were held to minus-2 yards and trailed 34-3 at the end of the third quarter.

“We are a team that never panics,” receiver Reggie Wayne said. “We just work the process and continue to play ball. We never get too high or too low. Hopefully we can keep riding this wave and keep playing ball. It is exciting, and especially the way we are winning in all three phases of the game, playing pretty good.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Don’t pay attention to the total yards the Indianapolis Colts gave up the Jacksonville Jaguars in their 37-3 victory on Sunday.

Giving up only 205 yards was impressive, but the number that you should pay attention to is the 67 yards the Colts gave up through three quarters when they were making sure they weren't going to get caught in the trap against Jacksonville.

The 138 yards the Colts gave up in the fourth quarter were garbage yards because the outcome had already been determined and the winless Jaguars were playing for their dignity at that point.

The Colts carried over what they did against San Francisco last weekend and brought that same dominating defense with them to Jacksonville.

“You can sense when blood is in the water,” Colts cornerback Vontae Davis said. “The first quarter they came out throwing their best shot at us, but we knew once we tasted blood we could jump on them quick. It got to the point where it seemed like they were ready for us to pack up our stuff and head back to Indy.”

It would be easy to wonder if the Colts' defense is for real because they played the Jaguars, who are just treading water these days. But that thought should quickly get erased because Indianapolis did the same thing to the 49ers.

The Colts have only given up 459 yards, 28 first downs and 10 points in the past two games. It’s time to look at the Colts as more than an offensive team.

Coach Chuck Pagano’s defensive mindset and coordinator Greg Manusky’s schemes have sunk in. It just took a little while for it to happen.

“We are going to stick to the process, keep coming back in here and preparing, staying the course and staying ready,” Pagano said. “We know who we are. … Again, to go on the road, after last week’s road trip, division game, and all those things.”

Having a stout defense eases the pressure on quarterback Andrew Luck and the rest of offense to put up a lot of points in order for them to win. The defense has shown that it’s good enough to win games on days the offense struggles.

“It’s awesome. It really is,” Luck said. “They do such a great job in practice all week, and to have them come out [like they did], it makes the offense’s job easier. Yeah, we’d love to score every play, but when you have a defense that’s playing like that, you realize it can be good team football.”

Indianapolis’ defense spent the week leading up to the game talking about containing running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who went into Sunday averaging 106.8 yards in 13 games against the Colts.

Jones-Drew was never a factor Sunday. The Colts bottled him up and held him to 23 yards on 13 carries.

That meant the Jaguars were forced to try to beat the Colts through the air with an unimpressive Blaine Gabbert at quarterback. And that played into the hands of Davis and fellow cornerback Greg Toler.

Davis set the tone defensively for the Colts by intercepting a Gabbert pass after dancing to get both feet in along the sideline on Jacksonville’s first offensive possession.

That just turned out to be the start of things for the opportunistic Colts defense. Davis tipped a Gabbert pass intended for Cecil Shorts and nickelback Darius Butler picked it off and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.

The Colts intercepted Gabbert three times, sacked him four times and held the Jaguars to 2-of-11 on third down.

“We work real hard in practice, we push each other, the offense pushes us in practice, we hone in on our techniques and on Sunday it’s almost easier than it should be,” Butler said. “We’re just playing physical and we want to keep that mentality.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Observed in the locker room after the Indianapolis Colts’ 37-3 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars:

No need for Luck: Quarterback Andrew Luck had taken every snap under center for the Colts in his young career. The streak -- 20 games counting the playoffs -- ended in the fourth quarter Sunday. Veteran Matt Hasselbeck replaced Luck for the final 4:49 of the game with the Colts leading 37-3.

Werner hurting: Colts rookie linebacker Bjoern Werner left the game in the first half with a sprained foot. Colts coach Chuck Pagano said the rookie out of Florida State is scheduled to get an MRI.

Wayne keeps rolling: Receiver Reggie Wayne had five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Wayne caught a second touchdown pass, but it was nullified because left guard Jeff Linkenbach was called for illegal use of his hands. Wayne now has nine 100-yard receiving games against the Jaguars.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A few thoughts on the Indianapolis Colts' 37-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars:

What it means: The Colts smothered the Jaguars all afternoon and held Jacksonville to 67 yards of total offense through the first three quarters. No, that's not a typo. There weren't any long runs by Maurice Jones-Drew or Blaine Gabbert scrambling to make something to happen. The Colts had two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown by Darius Butler, and four sacks. Jones-Drew, who's averaged more than 106 yards a game in his career against the Colts, had only 23 yards on 13 carries.

Stock watch: Linebacker Robert Mathis had three sacks to move into 29th place on the all-time sacks list with 99. He has recorded at least one sack in every game this season and has 7.5 on the season. Mathis needs one more sack to become the 30th player in NFL history to have at least 100 sacks. Mathis finished with five tackles to go with his three sacks.

Brazill returns: Receiver LaVon Brazill returns to the Colts on Monday after being suspended the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Brazill will be the team's fourth receiver behind Reggie Wayne, Darrius Heyward-Bey and T.Y. Hilton. The Colts didn't have anybody step up as the fourth receiver in Brazill's absence.

Brown shines: With Ahmad Bradshaw inactive with a neck injury, Donald Brown backed up Trent Richardson and ran for 65 yards on only three carries. Brown had a 50-yard run that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Richardson, his second as a Colt.

What's next: The Colts return home for the first time in three weeks when they host the Seattle Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium on Oct. 6.

Join our ESPN.com NFL experts as they break down the Indianaplois Colts' visit to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Contribute your thoughts and questions beginning at 1 p.m. ET. And, be sure to visit our NFL Nation Blitz page for commentary from every game, as well as fan photos and the latest buzz from Twitter. See you there.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne wakes up, climbs out of bed and doesn’t feel like his body has aged to the point where he needs to even contemplate how long he plans to continue his career.

"As soon as I start waking up on a consistent basis and my bones crack and ache and I put that window in there, that’s the day I should probably stop playing," Wayne said. "I’m just taking it one year at a time. I feel good now."

The drive is still there for Wayne every day.

All you have to do is show up for a training-camp practice and you’ll see the 34-year-old Wayne still on the field after some of his teammates have left for the day and he’s catching passes – low, high, one-handed – perfecting his craft on the Jugs machine. Wayne said during training camp that he prepares each offseason as if he's competing for a roster spot. That goes back to his days at the University of Miami, where you had to remain healthy and productive to ensure you stayed on the field.

"It was kind of mandated that the only way you came out of the game was if you got a bone showing [through the skin]," Colts coach Chuck Pagano, who was with Wayne in Miami, said. "Otherwise you stay in and play."

Wayne is humble enough not to say he’s the leader of the team. But he is one of the leaders based off how his younger teammates look up to him.

“I won’t say I set the standard,” Wayne said. “I’m not the only guy who practices hard. We have quite a few guys who do that. They may look at me because I’ve played longer, but we have quite a few guys who bust their tails each day. I was doing the same things back in my Miami days, way back then. That’s what got me going. It’s something you have to take pride in, and not everybody wants to go out there every day. You have to be disciplined to go out there and fight.”

Wayne isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. He has appeared in 185 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the league, according to Elias Sports Bureau, and he’s 15 catches shy of 1,000 for his career.

“Not really,” Pagano said when asked if he’s surprised Wayne is still playing at high level. “I’m screaming at him from the sidelines in those couple catch-and-runs [against San Francisco]. We talk about run after catch. That doesn’t apply to Reggie. I’m screaming to get down, self-preservation. That’s just the type of player he is. He doesn’t know any better.”

Wayne added, "I say it all the time, out of all the accolades I have, the one that means so much to me is being able to be out there every game day."

Wayne has 17 catches for 200 yards and a touchdown this season. He’s still the team’s No. 1 receiver but the days of having to shoulder the load should lessen now that the Colts have a legitimate rushing attack with Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw (when he returns from his neck injury).

“I’m in my 13th year, I’m not worried about my numbers,” Wayne said. “All I want to do is win.”