Being selected as the No. 1 overall pick to a team that had a 2-14 record is enough of a challenge for any 22 year old coming into the league. But add into the fact that being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts meant taking over for future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, who had made 11 Pro Bowls in 13 seasons before he was unable to play at all in 2011 due to neck surgeries, and then two-time All-American Andrew Luck from Stanford was thrust into a very unique position.
As the face of one of the best-looking NFL draft classes at the quarterback position, a group that includes 2012 draftees Robert Griffin III (went to playoffs as a rookie), Russell Wilson (won a Super Bowl in his second year), Ryan Tannehill (20-20 as a starter for the Miami Dolphins), and Nick Foles (lead Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs last season), Luck has not disappointed. In fact, he has exceeded expectations, putting up great numbers in his first two seasons, compiling 8,196 yards (including an NFL-record 4,374 in 2012) and 46 touchdowns to only 27 interceptions, and leading a 28 point comeback (38-10) in last year’s wild card game versus the Kansas City Chiefs, throwing for 433 yards and four touchdowns while also recovering a fumble for a touchdown in a 45-44 win, overcoming three early interceptions.
Pro Player Insiders’ Fago Franklin recapped the classic game last year, and was able to find both compliments of Luck, along with showing how the young quarterback was so in the moment that he didn’t even think of the significance of the comeback:
Everybody in the stadium was amazed at the comeback including the Colt’s head coach;” One for the ages,” said coach Pagano.” I think somebody said that it was the second-largest comeback or whatever in the history of whatever. I guess 21 wasn’t large enough at half, so we thought we’ve give them another seven, you know, just to make it interesting.”
“I don’t know if it ever crossed my mind on how it would be remembered,” Luck said after winning his first playoff game four seasons quicker than it took his predecessor, Peyton Manning. “When I took a knee, and you felt the buzz and the energy of the crowd and see your teammates’ faces, that makes it special.”
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After the devastating lost to the Colts, Smith had nothing but compliments for the Colt’s QB.”He’s as advertised. He went out there and definitely avoided some pressure and made big plays.”
In his third year, the two-time Pro Bowler has shown great improvement from his already impressive beginning to his pro career, completing 63.6% of his passes (54.1 and 60.2 in 2012 and 2013, respectively), throwing 26 touchdowns (most in the NFL) to only 9 interceptions, already besting the 23 he threw in each of his first two seasons, and already having 3,085 yards passing (also the most in the league) on 7.8 yards per attempt, a career-high. If Luck were to continue this pace, he would throw for 5,484 yards, 46 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, and would only be sacked only 25 times after being taken down 41 and 32 times in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
The yardage would exceed Peyton Manning’s NFL record set last season (5,477), and the 46 scoring passes would double Luck’s career touchdown total in just a single season. Though his completion percentage isn’t high, Indianapolis is an offense that is known to throw down the field with the speed of T.Y. Hilton, and Luck is one to be willing to stand in the pocket until the pressure comes right at him without flinching.
No matter what his statistical output has been, though, Luck has consistently been a winner, as his 31-7 record in college has shown to be no fluke in the NFL, with his current regular season win-loss record at 28-13 and a 1-2 record in the postseason. Luck has also proven to be as good as anyone with the game on the line, with 8 fourth-quarter comebacks and 11 game-winning drives in the first two years of his career, and almost came back from a 31-10 fourth-quarter deficit at Denver against the man he replaced in Indianapolis, falling 31-24.
On Monday Night at Metlife Stadium against the New York Giants, Luck showed all his great attributes y in completing 25 of 46 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns, with only 4 of those yards and none of the scoring throws coming after the third quarter. The game showed all the great attributes of Luck, with his first touchdown showing his intelligence, as he hurried the Colts up to the line and hiked the ball before New York was ready, finding a wide-open Coby Fleener for a 32 yard touchdown early in the second quarter to give Indianapolis a 10-0 advantage.
In the third quarter, the third-year quarterback was at his best, throwing three touchdowns, with the first showing the trust he has in his teammates. The 5’9” Hilton was matched up with 6’2” Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Luck threw a deep route for Hilton in the endzone that appeared to be intercepted by Rodgers-Cromartie, but was ripped away and then caught by Hilton for a 31 yard touchdown, a play that could have gone either way, but showed the young signal-caller’s willingness to take chances and give his playmakers an opportunity.
Despite 47 dropbacks, Luck was only sacked once, but was hit 11 times, including on a 3rd and 5 with just over six minutes left in the third quarter, when he starred down the barrel of a Giants blitz, and threw a strike on an out route to the dependable Reggie Wayne, who ran 30-plus yards down the sideline to complete a 40 yard touchdown connection. With the 350 yard performance, Luck has seven straight 300 yard games, two short of the NFL record (9) held by Drew Brees, who did it in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and was also Luck’s fifth straight 350 yard game on the road, becoming the first quarterback to ever do so.
But by his standards, despite a 40-24 victory, it was not a great outing, according to the Shutdown Corner’s Danielle Elliott:
“There’s some plays I messed up. I missed some throws,” he (Luck) said afterward. “I don’t think I played very well.”
While Luck should be proud of what he’s accomplished thus far, he appears to know that he has the talent to be an all-time great, and to do so, he has to lead Indianapolis to wins against the elite teams and elite quarterbacks in the NFL. The Colts’ three losses were to division leaders Denver, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, who have a combined record of 18-7, and with the surging New England Patriots and dominant Tom Brady (18 touchdowns to 1 interception in his last 5 games) coming into the RCA Dome after a bye on November 16, and a game at the Cowboys in the second-to-last week of the regular season to face off against Tony Romo, Luck knows he will have to reach another level to prove he can get his team into Super Bowl contention this season.
Though it won’t be an easy challenge to make that leap, Luck has rarely, if ever failed any task put in his way, and he is playing the best he has at any point of his career. If there is a lot of room for improvement, that is a scary sign for the rest of the AFC, and the NFL.
