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Tag: Andrew Luck

  • Chuck Pagano Never Lost Faith in His Team

    Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano knows how to face adversity. When the cancer survivor was diagnosed with leukemia last September his reaction was one of defiance. “It never entered my mind that I wouldn’t beat it. I never once thought, ‘This is it.”

    Thankfully for Pagano, his starting quarterback Andrew Luck has that same never quit mentality. With his team down 28 points in the third quarter to the Kansas City Chiefs in yesterday’s Wild Card game, Pagano never lost faith. “And we said we’re going to get back in this thing one play at a time. It looked bleak at times, but our guys, they never stopped playing. One thing we talked about this week is you can measure a lot of things at the Combine and all those type of things, but you can’t measure what’s inside a man. You can’t measure his heart. And these guys got more heart and grit than anybody I’ve ever been around, just the simple fact that they stuck to the process and never doubted.”

    The Colts wound up defeating the Chiefs 45-44. The win was the second largest comeback in the history of the NFL. Next week’s game against the Patriots in New England is going to be an even tougher assignment for a young Colts team with a suspect defense and a second year quarterback. The opening Vegas line has the Patriots as a 7.5 point favorite. But Pagano isn’t worried about a let down after his team’s miraculous comeback. “Human nature is tough to fight, but they won’t get complacent. We signed up for one thing and one thing only when we all got together in Anderson in training camp, and we all know what that is. They’ll enjoy it for a few hours tonight and they’ll be in there first thing in the morning getting treatment, getting a lift, taking care of their bodies and watching tape.”

    Kickoff for the Patriots/Colts game is set for 8:15 Saturday night. The two teams did not face each other this season. It will be a Tom Brady versus Andrew Luck matchup, the seasoned veteran against the aggressive second year standout. On the coaching side of things, this is only Pagano’s second year as a head coach. He will face off against Bill Belichick who has been the head coach for three Super Bowl winning New England teams and is currently the longest tenured active head coach in the NFL.

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  • Andrew Luck Doesn’t Know the Word Quit

    Andrew Luck Doesn’t Know the Word Quit

    “He kept telling us, even at 38-10, ‘We’re going to win this game’,” Anthony Castonzo said.

    Champions never quit. Winners never give up. Yesterday afternoon, the Indianapolis Colts were down four touchdowns in the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs. They looked over matched in every facet of the game: offense, defense and special teams. But one man never gave up. And even though the second year quarterback had already thrown three interceptions, he still somehow managed to keep the faith. He still thought his team could come back from being 28 points down to one of the best defenses in the NFL.

    Andrew Luck was right.

    With time ticking away in the third quarter, logically speaking, the Colts only had about five or six possessions left. Against all odds, the 24-year-old signal caller told his team, “There’s no 28-point touchdowns.”

    It would take five touchdown scoring drives to mount the second biggest comeback in the history of the NFL. The resurgence went something like this. Two Donald Brown rushing touchdowns, a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tight End Coby Fleener, a miraculous fumble recovery by Luck at the goal line for a touchdown and a 64-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton to take the lead, 45-44.

    In the middle of all that, the Chiefs were forced to settle for two field goals. And in the end, the much maligned Colts defense stayed strong and held the lead with 4:21 still left to play in the fourth quarter.

    Veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri, who won two Super Bowls with one of the best quarterbacks ever in Tom Brady, praised Luck’s maturity and confidence. “It seems like nothing ever bothers him. It can be a play that doesn’t work out for us, those interceptions. He just shakes it off and throws bullets down the field. I don’t think you can rattle him.”

    The Colts will face the Patriots next Saturday night at 8 pm in New England. It will be a Luck versus Brady matchup, the new guard against the old guard. Chances are Luck won’t beat a Patriot team by turning the ball over three times, but we know for sure that he will never quit. Not ever.

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  • Jamaal Charles Left Playoff Game With Concussion, Chiefs Lose

    The Kansas City Chiefs and their fans watching received a big scare when Jamaal Charles was forced to leave the game after a devastating head injury. He was not able to return to the game, and soon after he left, it was revealed that he had suffered a concussion.

    Jamaal Charles is the starting running back for the Chiefs, and one of the top rushers in the league. Watching him go down on the first drive of the Chiefs’ wild card playoff game was a big loss to the team.

    He had only three carries in the carries in the game, before leaving due to a concussion. Although the team originally stated that Charles was questionable to return while he underwent evaluation in the locker room, they downgraded him to an “out” status shortly after.

    Despite the fact that the Chiefs gained a big lead in the first half, they lost it in the end during an incredible comeback by Andrew Luck. Even with 3 interceptions, Luck was not discouraged, and by the end of the game, he passed for 443 yards and 4 touchdowns.

    The Chiefs had the lead 31-10 at halftime, but a wild second half saw the Colts mount an impressive comeback, and win 45-44 one of the highest scoring games in the history of the NFL playoffs. It was also the second-largest comeback in a playoff game.

    On the play that he was injured, Jamaal Charles was tackled by Colts cornerback Greg Toler and then knocked to the turf by defensive tackle Jeris Pendleton.

    Although the Chiefs had a big lead at the beginning of the second half, without Jamaal Charles, they were not able to milk the clock, and continued to play as if the game were even.

    Things were not going well for the running game of the Kansas City Chiefs, and with a little “Luck” on their side, it seemed that the Colts were determined to win the game. After defeating the Chiefs, the Colts will meet either the Broncos or the Patriots, depending on who wins today’s game between the Chargers and Bengals.

    After Jamaal Charles left the game, he was replaced by Knile Davis. Davis is a rookie running back who has not had much playing time with Charles on the team, and later left the game with an injury of his own.

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  • Chiefs Lose to the Colts in Horrible Fashion

    The Kansas City Chiefs blew a huge lead on Saturday, January 4, 2013, against the Indianapolis Colts. At half-time, the Chiefs were ahead 31-10, and by the third quarter, they were up 38-10. Yet, the franchise could not keep the twenty-eight point lead. Though Andrew Luck threw three interceptions, he rallied the Colts back into the game with his eleventh career comeback. He completed 17 out of 24 passes for 314 yards and 3 touchdowns in the second half, orchestrating the second-biggest comeback in NFL history with the Colts’ 45-44 wild-card victory. The first biggest comeback in NFL history belongs to the Buffalo Bills when they came back from a 32-point deficit to beat the Houston Oilers in overtime on January 3, 1993.

    The crowd in Lucas Oil Stadium exploded into an uproar when Andrew Luck threw the game-winning 64-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton, after he split safeties Quintin Demps and Kendrick Lewis, with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter. Hilton finished the playoff game with 13 catches for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, which marks a franchise-best. The Colts now advance to the divisional round and will either face the New England Patriots or the Denver Broncos next weekend. As for the Kansas City Chiefs, they have been officially eliminated, in gut-wrenching and horrible fashion, losing yet another playoff game.

    The Chiefs have yet to win a playoff game since 1993 and this game marks their eighth straight postseason loss. The franchise is now tied with the Detroit Lions for the most consecutive postseason losses in NFL history. Smith finished the game with 30 of 46 completed passes for 378 yards and four touchdowns, but it was not enough to keep Luck and the Colts from achieving victory.

    It must be certain that Kansas City fans cannot be happy with this end result, but some continue to praise the franchise for their perseverance throughout their regular-season games.

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  • Colts Vs. Titans: Colts Prevail In The End, Thanks To “Luck”

    The expert play of Andrew Luck has struck again, and in a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans, the Colts pulled away in the end. While the Titans maintained a lead for much of the game, and it appeared they would win, Luck struck at the end and ensured that the Colts would get another victory.

    With their recent win against the struggling Tennessee Titans, the Colts have improved to a record of 7-3, and the Titans have fallen to 4-6. The game ended with a final score of 30-27 after a big push from Andrew Luck when the Colts scored 17 points in the third quarter, and prevented the Titans from scoring.

    For the past few weeks now, fans have seen the Colts struggle early and have successful comebacks, but that trend may not be able to last the length of the season. They have trailed in the first quarter during six games this season, and in last night’s game, they trailed 14-0.

    However, Luck is certainly making himself a candidate for one of the best young quarterbacks, along with Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and Cam Newton, who are all having excellent seasons.

    Despite being one of the young guys, he understands that this is a problem that needs fixing. Luck was quoted after the game saying At the end of the day winning is what matters. We were fortunate in this game to survive our mistakes and have a chance to win. … But we know that’s got to be fixed.”

    The win against the Titans also puts the Colts at the top of the AFC South division, and they are looking good as the season starts coming to a close. Indianapolis was able to seal the victory with an 11-play drive that concluded with a 10-yard TD run by Donald Brown with 3:14 left in the game.

    The Colts completely took control of the game in the second half, and scored on four of their six possesions. Coach Chuck Pagano spoke of their second half performance, and the comeback win when saying “It speaks to the character and mindset of the guys. They were bound and determined to find a way. It was a great team win.”

    With a record of 7-3, and at the top of their division, the Colts will get ready to play against the Arizona Cardinals in week 12.

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  • Jim Irsay’s Comments Spark Controversy

    Jim Irsay’s Comments Spark Controversy

    This Sunday, perhaps the most anticipated game of the NFL season will be played in Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium: Peyton Manning vs. Andrew Luck. Except this time, Manning will not be playing for the home team. Sunday’s match-up will mark the first time Manning will face his former team, and the event has not been without controversy.

    In an interview with USA Today, Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts who made the mind-blowing decision to release Peyton Manning at the beginning of the 2012 season, voiced no regrets about his decision to rebuild the Indianapolis Colts: “Circumstances created this decision. You have to understand there’s no way this occurs if he’s in Indy. It’s just impossible, where our salary cap was. Having him stay at the type of number that he expected and deserved to earn and all those things.”

    However, money was not Irsay’s sole concern with retaining Manning: “We’ve changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these,” stated Irsay, referencing his Super Bowl ring.

    “(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these. Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated.You make the playoffs 11 times, and you’re out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this.”

    These incendiary comments sparked reactions from both Jon Fox, the head coach of Manning’s Broncos, and Tony Dungy, Manning’s former coach at Indianapolis.

    John Fox, who coached for 9 years for the Carolina Panthers before taking the same position at Denver, is typically known for his reserve when talking to the media. Irsay’s comments, however, incited Fox enough to force him to speak on the situation:

    “I saw the comments [from Irsay] and to be honest with you I thought it was a bit of a cheap shot. To me, in my opinion, they were disappointing and inappropriate. I mean, Peyton would never say anything. He’s too classy to do that. But they sounded a little ungrateful and unappreciative to me for a guy that has set a standard, won a Super Bowl, won division titles, won four MVP awards. I’d be thankful with that one Super Bowl ring because there’s a lot of people that don’t have one.”

    Tony Dungy also called Irsay’s comments into question, stating, “Jim is making this personal. I’m surprised.” When asked why he believed Irsay had made the comments, Dungy suggested it was part of mental-game against Manning due to their upcoming contest: “I think that’s what he’s trying to do. Have him make it such a big game he doesn’t perform well. I can’t figure any other reason to go this way.”

    Why Irsay would want to provoke the NFL’s best quarterback to become even more competitive is beyond understanding. Perhaps Irsay realized the error of his ways late last night when he took to Twitter to respond to his critics:

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    Twitter-grammar may have had an effect on Irsay’s communicative abilities if he believes the only way to interpret his comments was that Peyton would have won more Super Bowl rings with a better Special Teams and Defense. His comments in the USA Today interview stemmed directly from the decision to choose Luck over Manning, and he specifically calls Manning out in his diatribe against not winning more Super Bowl rings.

    It seems as if Irsay is best defined by his line, “CONTRO sells.” If controversy is what Irsay wanted, controversy is what he has gotten. He just shouldn’t be surprised when Manning strolls into Lucas Oil Stadium and puts a Denver-sized wallop on his Colts.

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  • Andrew Luck: Gay Teammate Would Not Be A Problem

    Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Andrew Luck has one message for any hypothetical gay teammate.

    Speaking to CNN, Luck says that he would have “absolutely no problem” with an openly gay teammate. In fact, he says that he hopes the NFL, and his team in particular, are open enough to allow such a teammate to be open with himself and the team.

    He goes on further to say that he hopes people would treat this hypothetical teammate no differently than anyone else:

    “I hope if someone’s thinking about (coming out), that if they do come out as gay and it makes them happy and it makes their life easier, then I think they should do it. It’s the 21st century, and I know I would have absolutely no problem with it. I hope no one would treat him any differently than any straight player, no special treatment — he’s just another guy.”

    Even if Luck has no problem with it, professional sports teams are still largely devoid of openly gay members. Of course, that doesn’t mean there are no gay players on these teams. In early May, former NBA player Charles Barkley said that there were many gay NBA players and that he had no problem with it.

    Going back to football, Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson spoke out on gay marriage last week. He said that he has no problem with those who are gay and that he loves his family members who happen to be gay. Despite that, he said that he’s “not with that” when it comes to gay marriage.

    [h/t: Fox Sports]

  • Matt Hasselbeck Is Incredibly High On Andrew Luck

    After helping the Tennessee Titans avoid complete failure the last couple of seasons, 37 year old NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck–he of the “We want the ball and we’re gonna score” fame–has moved on to the (still lucrative) land of backing up the young studs who have taken the reigns. Such is the case of the Indianapolis Colts and Andrew Luck, who will be entering his second season in the NFL, and all eyes will be watching to see how the potential franchise quarterback progresses. While the up-and-comer did help his team to an 11-5 record, he has not been getting the same amount of “love” as other first year quarterbacks he shared the limelight with, namely, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson.

    Granted, most of the off season chatter has focused solely on RG3, his knee and his Bed, Bath, and Beyond registry, but the point remains, the hype surrounding Luck has been somewhat quiet this summer. This is where Hasselbeck comes into play. After being around the second-year player during the Colts’ OTAs (organized team activities), Hasselbeck has been very impressed and sees big things for the young starter he will be backing up:

    “I knew he was a great player,” Hasselbeck said Wednesday after the Indianapolis Colts’ latest organized team activity at their Northwestside complex. “I obviously saw him play in college and also last year.

    “But I really didn’t know what kind of leader he was in the locker room. It just comes real natural to him. He’s got a great sense of when to pull somebody aside, how to deal with coaches, just how he treats everyone around him.

    “He’s been off-the-charts impressive that way.”

    That’s high praise from a quarterback who has actually started–and some would robbed–in a Super Bowl. Granted, it’s not like the elder quarterback would openly bad-mouth the new face of the franchise, but Hasselbeck’s words follow a pattern of those who have spent time with Luck. It helps when you’re dealing with a player who has the amount of talent Peyton Manning’s replacement has:


    There are only 97 days until the kick-off of the 2013 NFL season. Hopefully, news like this will keep folks satisfied until then.