Coming out of the shadows

Following the Indianapolis Colts’ improbable come-from-behind victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Saturday’s AFC Wildcard playoff game, certain commentators were expressing their “awe” about the continuing “legend” of Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck. This “awe” seems to come more from hindsight than anything they thought before. In fact, Luck has been mostly in the shadow of his contemporaries Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton. Although Luck is just as “athletic” as these quarterbacks are running with the ball, he is seen more as a “traditional” passer, and not of the “new school” variety that has excited the fancy of the league.

The current “flavor” of quarterback “excels” in the “read option” playbook, meaning that if on pass plays the first target isn’t open, then the quarterback has the “option” of simply running with the ball, rather than stay in the pocket and look for alternate targets. The limitations of this was seen in last year’s Super Bowl, when down near the goal line with the game on the line, Kaepernick ran the same pass play on three consecutive downs, which the Baltimore Ravens’ easily defensed due to Kaepernick’s inability to switch gears and find secondary receivers. 

On the other hand, during a critical fourth quarter drive that brought the Colts back from a 28-point deficit to within three, Luck ran 11 straight plays from the no-huddle offense—all but the first advancing the ball. It was on the final play of that drive when the name “Luck” seems to be an apt one. Many a game when the Colts seemed floundering, Luck pulled a rabbit out of the hat; here, Donald Brown fumbled near the goal line, but the ball bounced straight to Luck, who carried the ball into the end zone for a touchdown (it calls to my mind a 1980 game between Green Bay and Chicago, when Packer kicker Chester Marcol’s chip shot field goal in overtime was blocked by former Vikings great Alan Page; the ball ricocheted directly into Marcol’s chest, which he ran untouched into the end zone for the winning score). Luck’s ability to run the no-huddle in this situation in only his second season is likely paralleled only by the quarterback he succeeded.

Of course there are “reasons” why Luck hasn’t received the kind of attention his more “exciting” contemporaries are. He isn’t assumed to be an “explosive” athlete who can turn a broken play into huge gain—despite the fact that he can run with the best of the “running” quarterbacks. His supposed lack of being an all-in-one quarterback has been “proven” by some lackluster games in which the Colts have been inexplicably blown out (such as losses this season to St. Louis and Arizona) in which Luck seemed more a “liability” than the solution. Luck’s numbers have also been inconsistent, his passer rating in the bottom half of the league, and the number of touchdown passes he has thrown in each of his two seasons (23) doesn’t seem to be that of an “elite” quarterback (at least not comparable to Peyton Manning’s 55 this season). 

Yet just as “inexplicably” Luck led the Colts to wins this season over the 49ers, Seattle and Denver. He has led the Colts to consecutive 11-5 seasons despite the team being technically in a “rebuilding” phase. While these other quarterbacks are on teams with solid defenses, and  rely on the running game to take the pressure off the passing game, Luck has operated for most of the season with a virtually non-existent  running game and occasionally inconsistent defensive play. Trent Richardson has proven to be a disastrous acquisition, and fumbled on his only touch against the Chiefs; meanwhile, Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith had the best game of his career, completing 30 of 46 passes for 378 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in leading his team to 44 points. 

Yet down at one point 38-10 in the third quarter, Luck never flagged. After his first pass of the second half was intercepted, he settled down to 17 of 23 passing for 314 yards and three touchdowns; his interception in that run was in fact  a completed pass that  T.Y. Hilton juggled from his arms into that of the defender’s. Hilton later atoned on the 64-yard touchdown pass from Luck that won the game. Perhaps few thought such a comeback was possible, yet Luck’s ability as a “traditional” quarterback who plays from the pocket to search for multiple targets served him well in this game.

One suspects that it will take a Super Bowl run for Luck to come out from the shadows of the likes of Newton, Kaepernick, Wilson and RGIII; but with this win he may have actually started to change minds that are only now just beginning to “see.”