The Indianapolis Colts had little go their way in Sunday's 42-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, extending their losing streak to four games. 

While a handful of players managed to deliver encouraging performances, the afternoon exposed significant problems across the roster and raised further questions about the team's direction. With the trade deadline approaching, here's a look at the biggest winners and losers from Week 8.

WINNERS

CJ Allen

The clear-cut biggest winner of them all. CJ Allen made his first NFL start in Jacksonville and did not disappoint. 

Allen logged 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack, leading the team in all three categories. The second-round pick has had a slow start to his time in Indianapolis, being held back by numerous injuries, but now that he’s fully healthy, Allen provided a breath of fresh air to a linebacking corps that’s underwhelmed through eight games. 

For a defense that has struggled to find consistency at linebacker, Allen's emergence is an encouraging development.

He showed an ability to make plays at multiple levels, contributing against both the run and the pass while providing the kind of physical presence the position group has been sorely missing. It's only one start, but Allen has given the coaching staff plenty of reason to take off the training wheels and let him go to work.

DJ Giddens

DJ Giddens didn’t enter the game until the fourth quarter. By then, any hope of a turnaround was gone. But still, Giddens made the most of his limited opportunities. 

The second-year running back recorded 43 rushing yards on six carries, enough to finish as the Colts’ leading rusher. Giddens’ efficiency stands out (7.2 yards per carry). Although there is the caveat of Jacksonville playing several backups so late in the game, Giddens appears to have made significant progress compared to last year. 

With a Jonathan Taylor trade feeling inevitable, Giddens and current backup Seth McGowan are the likely candidates to take over the Colts’ backfield. Giddens flashed just at the right time and should receive an extended look during the remaining games on the schedule.

Defensive Line

The departure of DeForest Buckner in a trade back to San Francisco left a massive void on the Colts’ defensive interior. There’s no replacing Buckner, not this quickly, but Indianapolis’ defensive line gave us a pleasant surprise. 

As a collective, the Colts pressured Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence on 10 of his 19 dropbacks (52.6%), the best performance by the Indianapolis pass rush so far this season. 

Individually, Jaylahn Tuimoloau recorded his first career sack and forced fumble. Rookie Caden Curry finished with seven tackles and a fumble recovery, second only to Allen. Laiatu Latu logged his first full sack of the season.

It’s unfortunate that Lawrence still sliced up the Colts’ back end, but the Colts certainly have pieces up front they can rely on moving forward. 

LOSERS

Shane Steichen

Without a doubt, Shane Steichen entered Sunday’s game with his job on the line. Yet the urgency to find a way to win was nowhere to be found. 

The Colts surrendered their largest point total of the season and scored the fewest they have all season. Steichen waited until the fourth quarter to make any lineup changes, reflecting that lack of urgency. Questions about player effort came about postgame, especially regarding Josh Downs’ apparent desire to get out of town. 

There’s no sugarcoating it: Steichen has lost the locker room. And his job could be next. 

Daniel Jones

Like Steichen, Daniel Jones was under pressure to perform against the Jaguars. His drop in performance from last year has contributed significantly to the Colts’ inability to find ways to win, and Sunday was just more evidence that Jones’ season is heading downhill quickly. 

Jones finished 19-of-28 for 144 yards with a meaningless touchdown pass and two interceptions. 

While it’s hard to put all the blame on Jones, given his receivers couldn’t separate, he had no run game or defense to lean on, and penalties set the offense back numerous times, Jones certainly didn’t present a strong case to remain the starter to finish out this season. 

Secondary

The Colts’ pass rush had their best game of the season, but it was ruined by a secondary that couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Trevor Lawrence carved up the Colts back end with scary efficiency, completing 10 of his 14 pass attempts for 210 yards and three touchdown passes.

It wasn’t just the pass defense that was poor, as $60 million safety Cam Bynum was bulldozed trying to make a tackle on Jacksonville running back Bhayshul Tuten on his way to scoring a touchdown.

Bhayshul Tuten rumbles in the rain for the Jaguars touchdown!

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Simply put, the Colts have invested too much in their secondary to receive such underwhelming results. Three of the top six paid players on the team are members of the secondary, yet the unit remains one of the weak spots on the roster.