The Indianapolis Colts have always been a fan favorite in the football community. Earlier known as one of the most challenging competitors of Tom Brady's New England Patriots especially following the Deflategate scandal, the Frank Gore team fell short last NFL season. Falling victim to the same issues suffered by the Dallas Cowboys with Tony Romo, the Indianapolis Colts were also stuck with the injuries plaguing Andrew Luck. While the Dez Bryant squad had been sympathetic of their fallen quarterback, reports reveal that the TY Hilton team blames Luck for negligence in taking care of his physical wellbeing.
If sports analysts are to be believed, then Luck should be held accountable for his own injuries last NFL season. With a disappointing run to the Super Bowl 50, the Indianapolis Colts barely made headlines in the AFC South - a devastating result as the team failed to make it to the playoffs and were beaten to the top spots by the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. Needless to say, the Indianapolis Colts were nowhere near the ranks of the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos, who battled it out for the top seed.
Despite the tumultuous NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts still opted to sign an extension with Luck. This is no longer surprising considering the problematic free agency market that only offers a handful of quarterbacks such as Johnny Manziel and Tim Tebow. Ryan Fitzpatrick is undoubtedly too expensive for the Jim Irsay team while Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers has yet to settle his issues with the Jarryd Hayne team. This leaves the Indianapolis Colts with Luck - a choice that is not without problems.
"Luck has to stop trying to play hero for his mistakes," notes Evan Reller of Sports Illustrated. He later added, "The best thing Luck can do is head to the sideline and start studying the opposing defense to do better on the next drive."
Reller also tackled Luck's kidney injury and said, "As for the kidney injury: learn to slide." The sports expert added, "Luck has an innate ability to keep plays alive and can scramble pretty well when he needs to. This is part of his game that the coaches shouldn't take away, but he has to know when to slide, get out of bounds, or just take a dive to avoid a big hit."
The sports analyst further shared that Luck needs to up his game. That is, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback has to stop playing like an amateur and earn his keep with the NFL team. Reller noted that Luck appears to not be comfortable in the field - a fatal quality in such a competitive and aggressive sport.
"Those injuries will become far less likely if Luck can take the next step in his development," said Reller. He continued, "It is something we never saw last season because of the injuries and Luck never being comfortable on the field. He was doing things a rookie does (staring down receivers, aiming passes, not progressing through reads) and it was clearly due to his myriad of injuries. When he looked his best, against the Broncos, Luck played very well but then tried to do some weird spin move that got him hurt late in that game."
Does this mean that the Indianapolis Colts made a mistake when they re-signed Andrew Luck? Should they have just stuck with the tried and tested Peyton Manning? Did the Indianapolis Colts effectively kill their Super Bowl run when they gave up Manning who eventually led the Denver Broncos to victory over the Carolina Panthers?
Manning believes it isn't so. According to the Denver Broncos star, Luck is a good leader and a remarkable football player. The soon-to-be Hall of Fame awardee also shared his confidence in the young quarterback's capacity to lead the Indianapolis Colts to greatness.
"I had a great visit with Andrew. I've known Andrew for a long time," said Manning. He went on to share, "I'm a big Andrew fan and a big Chuck Pagano fan, as well. I think they're in good hands for the future for sure."
