Get used to this image for 2-6 weeks!
Alright, unless you’ve been living under a rock or have been disconnected from the Matrix then you probably have heard that Andrew Luck is suffering from another injury suffered during the Colts win over the Denver Broncos. News came out early Monday to the surprise of just about everyone. It was announced that Luck is suffering from laceration of his kidney and an abdominal tear. Luck is projected to miss from 2-6 weeks depending upon the severity and recovery from the injuries. With most believing it to be at least a month of action missed.
Courtesy of CBS/NFL
There really is no mincing words here, this is a devastating blow, but survival for the team is very possible. First and foremost, I just want Luck to get healthy and not rush back and face a more severe threatening injury. Under most circumstances relying on a 40 year old quarterback is not ideal, but in the Colts’ case Matt Hasselbeck brings in familiarity with the offense and still seems to have some game left. We witnessed what he was able to do while playing through an illness with no practice time earlier this season in relief of Luck’s prior injuries. Now he gets a bye week to prep for their next game against the Atlanta Falcons. As critical as I have been of the front office at least they had the foresight to bring in a veteran for just a circumstance like this. Sure, we would all rather see Luck out there, but as it stands the team is a benefactor of playing in the AFC South and finishing up with the most difficult portion of their schedule already done. That’s not saying there isn’t some challenging games left (there are), but it could be much worse. The Colts will likely have to bring in a backup to Hasselbeck so I’d expect a roster move sooner than later.
Normally I’d be on full “Blast Mode” against the front office (Ryan Grigson mainly) for failing to protect Luck, but this time it was not the offensive line’s fault and was a result from a scramble and odd dual hit. There was nothing illegal or even out of the ordinary. In fact, Luck continued on to throw a touchdown after the hit and finished the game. I don’t want to hear any talk about him being made of “glass” all of a sudden because he’s certainly not. He has be subjected to way too many hits in his career so far and this is priority #1 that needs to be remedied this off season. I think part of this has been addressed with the recent change at offensive coordinator as Rob Chudzinski‘s playcalling should have the team better poised to perform on offense. Yes, Luck got injured, but it wasn’t a result of holding onto the ball too long or the line collapsing and was because Luck saw an opening and was on the end of an unfortunate football play.
The Colts stand at 4-5 with following opponents coming up: @Falcons, Buccaneers, @Steelers, @Jaguars, Texans, @Dolphins, and finishing with the Titans. The Falcons and Steelers probably represent the most difficult games left on the schedule. It seems that 11-5 is not likely at this point considering Luck’s injury and where they stand currently. As I have stated previously, winning the AFC South is the road to the playoffs and hosting a playoff game. Luck should be back by the Dolphins game depending upon his healing.. I know this is not how we thought the season would go, but I’m not writing off the team as they still have a lot of weapons to use and with Chud in command of the offense it seems they suddenly have an identity that was sorely missing. One thing to also keep in mind is that football is odd in that usually the teams at the end that wins it all catches fire later in the season and makes a push at the end and this team certainly has the ability to do it.
