Success as Peyton Manning’s successor in Indianapolis didn’t go Andrew Luck’s way this time. The third-year Colts quarterback had his moments against the Broncos on Sunday night, but too much Manning first-half possession time and too many Indianapolis failures in the red zone evened the Manning-Luck series at 1-1.
A lack of luck, in the fortunate sense, might have played a part in the Colts’ 31-24 loss in the season opener for the teams.
Luck and the Colts made two blunders that cost them possession and points. Luck’s first-quarter interception by safety Rahim Moore led to a Denver touchdown and a 10-0 lead for the Broncos. Luck’s failed sneak on fourth down at Denver’s 1-yard line prevented the Colts from getting within 24-14 early in the third quarter.
“Stupid decision by me to try to go for that QB sneak — got stoned,” said Luck, who made his own call on that crucial play. He hurried the offense to the line trying to catch the Broncos by surprise.
“Not taking advantage of those (early drives), we put our defense in a real tough position. They must have played — seems like 90 snaps in the first half — and that’s as much as the offense’s fault as anything for not putting some drives together and getting something out of it. A lot of mistakes were made, especially in those early ones.”
Denver bolted to a 24-0 lead, but the Colts rallied and had a chance to tie the score in the final two minutes before Luck threw an incomplete pass on fourth down.
The Broncos, by comparison, were red-zone savvy in taking a commanding first-half lead.
Denver punted on its first three second-half possessions to give Luck and the Colts an opening, but too many things went wrong — beginning with the sneak that Denver stuffed.
Luck did give the Colts life just before halftime. Trailing 24-0, Luck capped a seven-play, 71-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run that gave the Colts their first points. Luck completed 6-of-7 passes on the drive that quieted Denver’s sellout crowd.
“We did manage to take advantage of some opportunities in that second half that we didn’t in the first,” Luck said. “It was good to get the two-minute drive at the end of the (first) half, get points, and found a little more rhythm (in the second half). … We seemed to make more plays.”
Luck’s offense got the ball back with a chance to tie the score in the final minutes, but Broncos rookie cornerback Bradley Roby broke up a pass on fourth-and-6. Then the Broncos ran out the clock.
“Good defensive play. They won that one. We didn’t,” Luck said.
Luck got the better of Manning last season, with the Colts winning 39-33 in Indianapolis.
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or
