Andrew Luck Leads Colts to First Victory of Season

There were times in each of the first two weeks where Colts quarterback Andrew Luck just didn't look sharp.  He missed some passes and missed some reads.  Especially last week against the Eagles, Luck didn't look that good.  But still, in each of the first two games Luck has had some great plays and looked good at times.  Today against the Jaguars, he was nearly flawless.  And whether you realize it or not, he's actually off to a tremendous start to the 2014 season.

Against the Jaguars today, Luck completed 31 of 39 passes (79.5%) for 370 yards (9.5 yards per attempt), 4 touchdowns, and no picks for a career-high passer rating of 140.4.  His 370-passing yards were tied for the third highest total of his career - tied with his week one game against the Broncos.  Through three games this year, Luck has completed 86 of 126 passes (68.3%) for 912 yards (7.2 yards per attempt), 9 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions for a passer rating of 103.  He has also added 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

If you extend his start through the first three games out to a full sixteen game season (in other words, if Luck keeps up this current pace all year), he will complete 459 of 672 passes (68.3%) for 4,864 yards (7.2 yards per attempt), 48 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions while adding 288 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground.  In case you didn't know - that's very good.

You can talk all you want about how Luck hasn't been great in the first two games, and that's true.  But you can also go too far the other way and ignore the good things that he has done in each of them.  And you certainly can't ignore his great game against the Jaguars on Sunday.  He's on pace for a phenomenal season, if he keeps this up.

And get this: this isn't nearly the best Luck or the Colts offense can play.  Understand that Luck has put up the numbers he has while not playing great (in the first two games) and while dealing with Pep Hamilton's play-calling.  Luck has done this while not playing his best.

If the Colts are going to dig themselves out of the 0-2 hole and make the playoffs (which they're expected to do), it will be because of Andrew Luck.  So far, he's done a lot of encouraging things.  He hasn't been anywhere near his best yet, which makes it even scarier for the rest of the league.  Andrew Luck figures to only get better this year, and with the stats he's already put up, one might wonder what he could do.

Against the Jaguars, Luck dominated from start to finish (well, he didn't finish the game due to their huge lead, but he played most of it).  He hit on nearly every pass and had a couple of them dropped - including a would-be touchdown pass to Coby Fleener that was flat out dropped.  He was in complete control out there against the Jaguars.  He spread the ball around very well, looked poised, avoided some pressure when it was there (and the line did a very good job today), and made some great throws.  Luck looked great.

Oh, and get this:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Andrew Luck is 1st <a href="https://twitter.com/Colts">@Colts</a> QB w/ 350+ yards, 4+ TDs, 0 INTs &amp; 75+ comp pct in a game since... Johnny Unitas in 1967</p>&mdash; Randall Liu (@RLiuNFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/RLiuNFL/status/513802329871491074">September 21, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"But it was only the Jaguars!" you might object.  And yes, the Jaguars are awful.  But look, the Colts did their job against the Jaguars.  They were supposed to win easily, but it's one thing to say that but a whole different thing to actually do it.  The Colts played a sixty-minute ballgame and did what they were supposed to do.  Luck was dominant.  Let's realize that it was only one game against perhaps the NFL's worst defense, but let's also give credit to the Colts for doing what they were supposed to do.  There are a lot of teams (including the Colts at times) who don't do that.

The Colts were led today by their franchise quarterback, and Andrew Luck is off to a terrific statistical start to the season.  Considering that he didn't play anywhere near his best football in the first two games, it's possible to think that he could do even better.

If you were worried about Andrew Luck's timing, mechanics, reads, or whatnot, watch him today against the Jaguars.  He was in complete control, and he's had a good start to the season, all things considered.  We talked this week about how it wasn't time to freak out despite the Colts starting 0-2, and while you could point to the schedule or a whole host of things, the biggest reason to not freak out was that Andrew Luck is still the Colts quarterback.  And in case you didn't realize it already, that guy is pretty good.

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