Andrew’s looking like another all-time great
The latter-day Captain Comeback with the horseshoe on his helmet looks like Dwight Schrute’s cousin, sounds like a NASA employee and plays with selective amnesia. His general manager likens him to His Airness (presumably without the protruding tongue). His teammates think he’s a stud. His opponents suspect that he may have been engineered in a lab.
He is a Stanford Man, a miracle man and, these days, simply The Man.
Andrew Luck’s improbable comefrom-behind wild-card winning performance against the Chiefs last weekend revealed all the gifts that already make him one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL. If you’re not named Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees, you’re not better.
The 24-year-old Luck, two years along a path that will ultimately wind its way to Canton (barring injury, of course), is the heir apparent to Brady and Manning, this generation’s King of the NFL World, the future standard of the position.
“In 10 years, we’ll all be saying that he’s a winner,” said a scout of one of the Colts’ opponents this season. “From a cerebral standpoint, he’s like Brady and Manning. But his athleticism sets him apart from those two. Above all, he has that ‘it’ quality.
“As long as he’s on the field, the guys around him believe they have a chance to win the game.”
Luck’s 443-yard, five-touchdown eruption against Kansas City that set up a divisional-round showdown against Brady and Bill Belichick Saturday night in Foxborough was a numerical aberration. The young quarterback is far from a statistical force.
He ranked 13th in passing yards (3,822), 15th in touchdown passes (23) and 18th in passer rating (87.0) in his second season, but the numbers belie this reality: Luck should receive every bit as much MVP consideration as Manning and Brady.
Luck’s greatness isn’t defined purely by numbers. Your eyes tell you it’s not premature to put him into the league’s top tier of signal callers.
At 6-4, 239 pounds, he’s as strong as an ox. “You see him slinging guys off of him left and right,” Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib said. “So you can tell how big he is.”
He has the ability to extend plays within the pocket and escape it to eat up real estate. Belichick called Luck’s running prowess a cross between Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Newton, a frightening blend of power and speed. His mobility (632 career rushing yards, nine touchdowns) provides a dimension that Manning and Brady never had.
“The kid has Manning’s mental makeup and Steve Young’s legs,” an AFC talent evaluator said.
Luck also has the mind of a steel trap, correcting his own mistakes within games to routinely rally the Colts to victories. He has engineered fourth-quarter or overtime comebacks in 11 of his 23 career wins, Exhibit A that it’s not too early to put him in the upper tier of quarterbacks right now.
“He’s one of the best at in-game adjustments,” said Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, who beat Luck as a rookie as the Jets’ defensive play-caller. “That’s why they have so many comeback wins. You have to keep mixing things up on him, so he can’t get dialed in late. . . . He has great pocket awareness. He feels the rush without looking at it. He has great accuracy with or without his feet set.”
Luck’s instincts and sheer will to take over the fourth quarter of the epic 45-44 wild-card win over the Chiefs prompted Colts GM Ryan Grigson to draw comparisons to Michael Jordan. Although Luck is far from amassing all of Jordan’s championship hardware, the analogy was a smart one. No. 12 elevates his teammates’ levels of play just like No. 23 did.
Luck, who cut his interceptions in half from his rookie season, has managed to get his team to within two games of the Super Bowl despite a rushing attack and defense that ranked 20th in the league. The loss of WR Reggie Wayne, TE Dwayne Allen and RB Ahmad Bradshaw to seasonending injuries didn’t help, either.
“He hides a lot of roster warts,” another NFL personnel man said. “Players can come and go, but if you have a franchise quarterback, you still have a chance. When you don’t, you better hit on a lot of your draft picks and free agent signings. If you have a franchise quarterback and you miss (in the draft or free agency), it’s not as glaring.”
Nobody knows that better than Belichick, whose draft-day and free agency missteps have been repeatedly masked by Brady’s greatness.
Luck has done what it took Manning six years to accomplish: Win a playoff game for the Colts.
The tangibles make him great. The intangibles make him special. The combination makes him the heir apparent to Manning and Brady.
Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin said earlier this season that his former Stanford teammate “can be the greatest quarterback who ever played the game of football.”
Brady will probably shred a mothridden Indianapolis defense Saturday night to advance. The pain for Luck will be temporary.
He’s arrived. He’s here for good. He’s going to be a problem for plenty of people for a very long time.
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