Colts need Luck in prime-time match
Indianapolis quarterback playing against Jets after missing a game with concussion
Here’s another sign the Indianapolis Colts’ fortunes have been slipping over the past three seasons. They’ve lost seven of their past eight prime time games, and five straight.
On Monday night they hope to reverse that trend, on the road, against the struggling New York Jets.
With a win, Indianapolis would improve to 6-6 to rise into a threeway tie for first in the weak AFC South division with the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans.
“We have another opportunity … it’s a huge game, it happens to be on Monday night and it happens to be prime time,” Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said. “We know we need a win, they know they need a win, everybody is fighting for the same thing. They are clawing and digging just like we are.”
Quarterback Andrew Luck is expected to start for Indianapolis. He missed the U.S. Thanksgiving Day loss at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers after being concussed four days before in a loss to the Titans.
Luck told reporters last Monday he was “100 per cent,” but he was only cleared from the league’s return-toplay concussion protocol on Saturday.
That the Colts this past week waived third-string quarterback Stephen Morris — who backed up Scott Tolzien against Pittsburgh — then re-signed him to the practice squad, is proof positive Luck will at least dress Monday night.
Luck is having one of his best NFL seasons after re-signing with the Colts in June for US$140 million over six years. He’ll need to fare much better against the Jets this time than he has in two previous career meetings — both losses in which Indianapolis scored a combined 16 points. In last year’s Week 2 loss to the Jets on Monday night, Luck and the Colts turned it over five times.
New York might only be 3-8, but its defence remains stout, especially along the line.
Defeating New York would only be the first step for Indy as it attempts to claw back into the AFC elites.
“We know we have to be successful in December to go where we want to go,” centre Jack Mewhort said. “It starts Monday night in New York. I say it all the time: you start looking ahead and the little things slip, and then that kind of snowballs into big stuff. You have to take it day by day, hour by hour and stay in your routine and prepare and be a professional to be successful in December.”