Andrew Luck Ties Yet Another NFL Rookie Record

Nothing is more meaningless in this league than tracking "quarterback wins." It's a lazy person's way of saying Player A is better or worse than Player B. Always has been. With all the places that now provide sophisticated methods to track player process, you'd think we'd move on from the "he's a winner" stupidity that often infects our sports journalism.

That said, I'm here to report to you, our loyal readers, that Colts quarterback Andrew Luck tied an NFL record Sunday with his seventh quarterback "win" as a rookie drafted No. 1 overall. The only other rookie QB drafted No. 1 overall with sevens wins is Sam Bradford of the St. Louis Rams.

Yep, quite an accomplishment. [cue fart noise]

Statistics that are more eye-opening for me personally are how Luck is No. 3 in the entire NFL is yards-per-completion (12.6), playing in an offense that is designed to push the ball down the field, not dink-and-dunk or run cheap college option plays. Luck's QBR is also 75.02, behind only Tom Brady (81.6), Peyton Manning (79.5), and Matt Ryan (75.4).

Then, there's his play in late game situations. Luck has led four fourth quarter comebacks (pro-football-reference.com only lists two, for whatever reason).

• He led the Colts on a four-play, 47 yard drive to beat the Vikings in Week Two. Luck started the drive with the game tied 20-all and with only 31 seconds left in regulation. He then completed three straight passes (20-yarder to Donnie Avery, 20-yarder to Reggie Wayne, and another 7-yarder to Avery) before spiking the ball with 13 seconds left. Adam Vinatieri came on and kicked the game-winning 53 yard FG.
  
• He led the Colts on a fourteen-play fourth quarter drive to beat the Packers in Week Five (arguably the NFL's game of the year so far). The Colts were down 21-3 at halftime before Luck willed his team back in the second half. On the final drive, he went 9-12, including three conversions on 3rd down, none bigger than the 3rd and 12 from the Green Bay 47 yard line. The drive culminated in a four yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne. The drive began with 4:30 left in the game, and it ended with just 39 seconds. Colts won 30-27.
• He led the Colts on a nine-play drive in overtime to beat the Titans in Week Nine. Much of the damage done to Tennessee in that overtime win was done on the ground, especially on that final drive. However, Luck completed a 20 yard pass to Reggie Wayne on 3rd and 8 from the Titans 36 yard line. Then, on 2nd and 10 from the Titans 16, Luck completed a pass to Vick Ballard, who then jumped and swirled his way into the endzone for a touchdown. Ballgame. Colts win 19-13.
• He led a a 13-play fourth quarter drive that ate up nearly 8 minutes in a win over the Dolphins in Week Ten. The score was tied 20-all in the fourth until Luck started converting plays, culminating in a 43-yard Vinatieri field goal that ended up being the game-winner.

[Note: As Matt stated below, two of those drives aren't considered "comebacks" because the games were tied in the fourth. They'd be considering "game-winning" drives.]

Oh, and if not for the Colts defense giving up that cheap touchdown in Cecil Shorts with 45 seconds left in their Week Three loss to the Jaguars, Luck has five fourth quarter comebacks on the season and the Colts are 8-3, not 7-4.

But, hey. Whatever. Let's talk about quarterback "wins." That's much easier than, say, doing actual work to determine who is or isn't playing well.

Can you tell I really don't like writing about this dumb statistical accomplishment? There are so many other ways we media jerkheads can praise Luck this season, like how he is the No. 1 QB in the NFL on 3rd down with 10 or more yards to go). He's been absolutely amazing. QB "wins" is the one that appeals to the stupidest of football fans.

[cue fart noise]