INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck just had, bar none, his finest postseason performance.
It was not, however, his most exciting performance. Neither was it his most heroic. And it certainly won’t go down as his most memorable.
But Sunday’s 26-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals was, undoubtedly, the most flawless playoff game Luck has played.
Twenty-eight-point comebacks make for great entertainment — last season’s victory over the Kansas City Chiefs will never be forgotten — but they are not a sustainable model for winning in the NFL playoffs.
Impeccable decisions, well-placed throws and resisting the temptation to force balls into deep coverage are the practices that pave the way to victory in the postseason.
Luck did all of that and more Sunday.
“It was,” coach Chuck Pagano said, “one of the best games that he’s ever played.”
The Colts’ breathtaking 45-44 victory over the Chiefs in January 2014 was epic. The Colts’ comeback from 28 points down in the third quarter, an effort engineered by Luck’s genius play, was the second-biggest come-from-behind victory in postseason history.
But here’s the part some have conveniently forgotten: Luck’s uneven play during the game’s first three quarters, including his three critical interceptions, helped put his team in that nearly insurmountable hole to begin with.
Yes, Luck would finish with four touchdown passes. And, yes, he did somehow corral that Donald Brown fumble and leap into the end zone as if he should be wearing a cape. Along the way, he likely sparked a few debates about how grand his legend might ultimately become.
It was “one for the ages,” an exhausted Pagano said after the final whistle.
Even so, the Colts will take a turnover-free, almost breezy, 376-yard day from their quarterback 10 times out of 10.
The Bengals played coverages designed to take away the Colts’ strengths. But instead of forcing long balls down the field against the deep zones, Luck simply adjusted.
As he said after the game, he went through his reads, looking “touchdown to checkdown.” Essentially, if the deep stuff wasn’t there, Luck happily tossed the ball to his running backs and tight ends (which explains how Daniel Herron ended up with a game-high 10 receptions).
Luck’s postseason is off to a rousing start.
How the Colts gallop
The Indianapolis Colts enter Sunday’s divisional playoff game against the Broncos with a powerful offense. This season, the Colts ranked third in the NFL in total yards per game (406.6) and sixth in points (28.6). Powered by star quarterback Andrew Luck, the Colts led the league in passing with an average of 305.9 yards. Luck’s 40 touchdown passes were the most in the NFL. Yet for all of their horsepower, a closer look at the numbers reveals some hitches in the Colts’ giddyap:
• 100.8: Yards rushing per game (22nd in the NFL). The Colts averaged only 83.2 yards on the ground over their last nine games of the regular season. In the final two games of the regular season, against Dallas and Tennessee, the Colts rushed for a total of 65 yards on 40 carries.
• 11: Offensive line combinations the Colts were forced to use because of injuries.
• 103.0: Passer rating for Luck in his first 12 regular-season games, with 34 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions, 334 yards per game and a 63.8 percent completion rate.
• 71.1: Passer rating for Luck in his last four regular-season games, with six touchdown passes, five interceptions, 188 yards per game and a 53.6 percent completion rate.
• 1,345: Career-high yards receiving by T.Y. Hilton on 82 catches. Since 2012, he ranks second in the NFL in touchdown receptions over 30 yards (11).
• 1,438: Yards passing by Luck in the first four playoff games of his career, the most in NFL history.
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
