EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - When Andrew Luck scrambled, he looked to throw, with a perfect clock in his head ticking, ticking, ticking ... Yes! Pursuit too late, ball gone, pass complete.
Andrew Luck’s style is ‘full of substance’
The Colts and their third-year quarterback are “throwing and thinking” their way to the top of the AFC.
Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports
When one of his rich passing gains appeared in jeopardy due to a potential coach’s challenge, Luck did what you wish your quarterback would do, hurry, hurry, hurry ...Yes! Too late, already the next play, ball gone and a touchdown pass, to boot.
When Luck used a five-receiver set to spread the New York Giants, he torched them on a 40-yard scoring pass. When the Giants bunched at their 2-yard line to bottle him, he tricked them with a play-fake for a ridiculously easy, wide open, short scoring toss.
This is what the NFL’s No. 1 offense looks like.
This is what the NFL’s No. 1 passing offense looks like.
This is what the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense looks like.
This is Luck’s world.
It highlights his quick feet and quicker mind and complete control once he hits his groove. Luck can throw it short and he can throw it long and he nearly always seems compact and intact. He answers the frenzy around him with more cool. His Monday night marvel at MetLife Stadium was sometimes brilliant. His Colts mangled the Giants 40-24 and it was Colts 37-10 late in the third quarter and 40-10 early in the fourth quarter. It was hardly ever in doubt with Luck sometimes dominating and always influencing.
He made the Giants look bad. He made Eli Manning look bad.
Their numbers side-by-side were startling. Four touchdown passes and a 108.4 rating for Luck and only two for Manning with an 86.9 rating. The drops by Manning’s receivers were a letdown, but he threw just as many wild passes as those drops and did not do what Luck did -- rise his team above it all.
Indianapolis the week prior had been bombed 51-34 at Pittsburgh (notice, still, the 34 points scored in the embarrassment). The Giants had lost consecutive games to Philadelphia (27-0) and Dallas (31-21) and had a bye, two full weeks, to prepare for these Colts.
An incredible circumstance and outcome on the road for Indianapolis.
That is what Colts owner Jim Irsay was saying as he left his team’s locker room.
“When you think of this performance and just talking about Andrew, he is the type of young man that if you had a capsule landing on Mars, he would be the guy taking that first step,” Irsay said. “I mean, he could probably just as easily have been something like an astronaut as much as a quarterback. He is a wonderful leader. He got us turned around quickly here. His skills are obvious. But it’s his leadership methods and ways that I appreciate most. It’s really effective.”
Luck’s teammates were talking about that, too.
Luck, in a quiet moment at his locker, would only say that “we had to get back on track” and “we have a lot of great leaders on this team.” Luck wants to blend in even though he sparkles.
Receiver Hakeem Nicks heard him on the sidelines.
“You always hear him going up and down over there for us, talking to everyone, getting things clear, making sure we have the right approach and thinking,” Nicks said. “That’s his style and it’s full of substance.”
Running back Ahmad Bradshaw heard Luck in the huddle.
“He kept telling us, ‘Keep your blinders on!’” Bradshaw said. “He helps you keep your focus on the next play regardless of what has happened. This team is built to be explosive. We can make anything happen at any time. We have a quarterback who can do that with his running, with his throwing and with his thinking.”
Even Giants coach Tom Coughlin admitted: “There’s no question. The way he’s playing, the way he played tonight, he’s an outstanding young quarterback that throws and manages the game very well and is accurate. His throws to the tight end tonight were outstanding.”
Give Pep Hamilton, the Colts offensive coordinator, huge credit for the development of this offense and of Luck. Nicks and Bradshaw, former Giants, were employed in scorching ways in this game. Receivers Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton, running back Trent Richardson and tight end Coby Fleener are just the short list of a long one of weapons for Luck. He creates ways to use them all.
The Colts defense did its part, rushing Manning and forcing him to fumble deep in his territory to set up a Colts score. The Colts tackled well in the running game and helped to make the Giants offense look ordinary and cumbersome, especially early. The Giants’ only points in the first half, a field goal, came after an 11-play, 45-yard drive. That is tedious work lacking even a sliver of explosion.
The Colts do not have that problem.
Much of it comes back to Luck.
He just passed for 300-or-more yards for the seventh straight game, a Colts record.
"We knew what the Giants like to do and we also knew that if we could hold them off for one more second than the pressure they could bring that we could hit some big plays," Colts center A.Q. Shipley said. "We knew after what happened against Pittsburgh that we needed extra preparation and extra study and we got it. And that helped us jump out ahead in this game. It's Andrew's third year and he is just incredible. There is so much that he understands. And shares."
The Colts (6-3) will "self-scout" during their bye this week, according to their head coach, Chuck Pagano. They host the New England Patriots on Nov. 16. The Patriots also have a bye this week. Thus, those two rested, spirited AFC teams will soon clash.
We know what the Colts are.
“We feel good about 6-3, 2 1/2 games up, I think, in the division,” Pagano said. “Like I told our guys, we don’t need any help from anybody, we control our own destiny. If we just stick to the process, keep grinding, keep preparing, then good things should happen.”
Lucky things, too.
"Andrew doesn't care who you are or what you do, he comes to work every day and wants you to do the same," said Colts tight end Jack Doyle. "He has the same energy on a Wednesday practice that he does in a Monday night game. That helps build a great team and a great locker room. That's what you are seeing in these games.''
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