FOXBORO, Mass. — The injuries were almost as absurd as Andrew Luck. That’s how bad they were. That’s how good he was.
As it was, the Indianapolis Colts had way too much of the former — way too many injuries, to say nothing of all those dropped passes — to ride Luck’s obviously healed right shoulder to victory on Thursday night. But as this game wore on and important players kept falling away from the Colts defense, and as Luck kept making his magic, you had to wonder:
Might this really happen?
To make a long story short: No. It might not. Not with Luck having to carry too much of a burden. He can’t catch his own passes, and he can’t keep his teammates from getting injured at an inexplicable rate. Those negatives were too much during another overwhelmingly positive game from Luck, who threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-24 loss Thursday to the Patriots that dropped the Colts to 1-4.
The Colts began the game without half their starting offense, and ended it without half their starting defense, but there was Andrew Luck in the pocket, throwing and throwing and throwing. Luck’s teammates weren’t matching his greatness, which pretty much sums up his NFL career to date, but they were hanging onto just enough of his passes to give the Colts (gulp) a chance.
Ultimately it wasn’t to be for Indianapolis, but that doesn’t change the absurdity of what Luck was doing, or the odds against what he was trying to do.
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Early in the fourth quarter the Colts had whittled a 24-3 deficit to 24-17. To that point Luck was 24-for-35 for 231 yards, and while those are fine numbers, they weren’t doing his day justice. By then Luck had seen his teammates drop at least five passes, and the worst one hadn’t even happened yet. Chester Rogers dropped an easy long pass of about 40 yards. Eric Ebron dropped an easy short pass. Nyheim Hines dropped a pass. Zach Pascal dropped a pass. Rogers dropped another one.
The worst drop was still to come, but first, understand what Luck was working with. Or rather, what he was working without:
Luck came into Gillette Stadium without his No. 1 receiver (T.Y. Hilton) and No. 1 tight end (Jack Doyle), his blind-side protector (left tackle Anthony Castonzo), his top three right tackles (J’Marcus Webb, Joe Haeg and then Denzelle Good), his most dangerous running back (Marlon Mack). He came here with a receiving corps of Ryan Grant and Zach Pascal, with two rookies at running back, with a rookie guard (Braden Smith) having to play right tackle.
The defense was similarly wrecked. The Colts started the game without their best player on that side of the ball, likely Pro Bowl-bound rookie linebacker Darius Leonard. They were without their top three cornerbacks (Kenny Moore II, Quincy Wilson and Nate Hairston). And then the game started and more Colts defenders got hurt. Linebacker Anthony Walker suffered a concussion and didn’t return. Safety Clayton Geathers suffered a neck injury and didn’t return. Safety Matthias Farley tweaked a hamstring and didn't return.
At a certain point, and I can tell you exactly when it happened, this game got ridiculous. That point was late in the second quarter, the Colts already having fallen down 21-3 to the Patriots, and now their best remaining defensive player is walking to the locker room. Denico Autry is injured. He plays defensive tackle sometimes, defensive end sometimes. Right now the Colts need him at both. They also need him at linebacker and cornerback, and if he could play offensive tackle, well, that would be nice too.
But the Colts still had Andrew Luck, which means they still had a pulse. It was a faint beating of the heart, but yes it was beating and Luck was throwing and the Colts were scoring and Gillette Stadium was quiet. They don’t like the Colts here, mad that the Colts dared to turn them in for cheating in the 2014 AFC title game, and this was supposed to be a happy blowout and it just wasn’t happening.
The Colts defense, shorthanded as it was, had somehow drawn a line in the sand and told Tom Brady (after his 22-for-26 start) and the Patriots offense: No more. Now, in fairness to the truth, the Colts defense had some help. Farley made a great interception of a ball that never should have been in his arms in the first place. But Patriots receiver Chris Hogan let it carom off his hands, and Farley made a fast-reaction grab of the airborne ball, and the whistle has blown and the play is dead but now Farley is running toward one of the end zones with his teammates and posing for a pretend selfie as the crowd boos.
Farley would produce another turnover minutes later, banging into Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski to force another pass into the air, where Colts linebacker Najee Goode intercepts it. All of this is happening and the crowd is silent and the Colts somehow have a chance …
And then comes the worst drop yet. Luck is driving the Colts and throwing a pass into Zach Pascal’s hands, but the ball flutters off his fingers and is intercepted by the Patriots’ Jonathan Jones, and that’s pretty much that. The Patriots score twice and a 24-17 squeaker is a 38-17 breather, and even with Luck throwing the ball to the end — he was 38-for-59 — and capping his day with a 1-yard TD pass to Ebron with 1:52 left, the Patriots recover the Colts’ onside kick and that was the game.
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