Grading Andrew Luck vs the Baltimore Ravens Andrew Luck’s se

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did not go as smoothly as his first , but every rep he takes is a step in the right direction. Below are breakdowns on each of Luck’s 13 official pass attempts. A video link to all his throws is embedded below. 1st Passing Attempt — Incomplete Pass to Chester Rogers (Short)The first throw to Rogers wasn’t terrible, but it probably wasn’t the right decision. During Luck’s five step-drop, he stares down Rogers the entire way and tries to force it into a tight window. The throw is slightly off the mark and Rogers isn’t able to adjust properly. Had Luck taken his time (he had a nice pocket to work with), he would’ve realized that Jack Doyle was the much safer, smarter throw to make.2nd Passing Attempt — Incomplete Pass to Chester Rogers (Short)This was a fantastic call by the defense. The Ravens effectively blitzed Luck by stunting the weak-side 3 technique defensive tackle and the running back wasn’t able to recognize the stunt and make the block. When Luck attempts to step up in the pocket, he realizes that the unblocked defender is barreling down the middle. Luck makes the wrong decision by forcing a throw off his back foot. Tough to blame Luck, so this play should be chalked up to a great defensive play call by the Ravens.3rd Passing Attempt — Pass Intercepted - Intended for Jack DoyleThis entire play is ugly from start to finish. Luck initially cheats his drop by not crossing over properly. After he starts to roll out, he decides to try to force a pass to Jack Doyle who was short of the end-zone but past the first down marker. This was an extremely tight throw that was not worth making in the 1st quarter of a game. In this situation, he must take his medicine, throw the ball away and take his three points. Turnovers in the red-zone are a killer and this turnover ended up costing the Colts the game (as they lost by 1).4th Passing Attempt — 16 Yard Completion to Jack DoyleThis was a great bounce-back play. The play action was sold nicely, he gets his lower body into position nicely and fires a strike to Doyle in the right position. He gets a nice amount of velocity on the pass and it’s placed perfectly. 5th Passing Attempt —Incomplete Pass to Ryan Grant (Deep)The decision wasn’t bad, even though he was slightly late on the throw (you don’t want to make back shoulder passes too far down the field and with the safety screaming over the top). The pass sailed on him a bit, due to his shoulder elevating when throwing the pass (his shoulders should be parallel to the ground on these types of throws). When the shoulder elevates, the pass usually sails and that’s what happens here. In short , it was a good decision, but the pass sailed.6th Passing Attempt — 16 Yard Completion to Jack DoyleThis was probably his best pass of the game. He takes a very nice 5-step drop, recognizes the pressure from the outside, steps up nicely in the pocket and fires a strike to Doyle into a small window. He gets a lot of velocity on the pass thanks to him stepping up in the pocket and he did all of this on 3rd and 12. 7th Passing Attempt — 4 Yard Completion to Josh FergusonThis was a smart checkdown throw that Luck needs to make more often. He makes his read down the field, sees no one is open and then takes what the defense gives him. He fires a good pass and Ferguson picks up 4 yards. 8th Passing Attempt — 8 Yard Completion to Chester RogersLuck had two good options on this play: Rogers and Doyle. This is a quick hitter passing play, so he takes a quick drop, makes a read and hits the receiver quickly. He makes a nice throw and gets the easy first down. When Luck makes these easy reads and throws, it’s very tough to stop this Colts offense. As a side note, Rogers runs a fantastic route here and is able to separate from the cornerback. 9th Passing Attempt — Incomplete Pass to Jack Doyle (Short)This is another quick hitter type throw, where the coaches expect Luck to make a pre-snap read and stick with that read. Doyle is the guy here, and Luck throws a nice sharp pass in a tight window, but Doyle drops it. This is a smart play-call on 2nd down and it was a good decision and pass by Luck.10th Passing Attempt — Incomplete Pass to Ryan Grant (Short)Luck does a very good job on his 5-step drop and he reads the field well. Most of his options were taken, so while his pass was 5 yards short of the line of scrimmage, it was probably his best bet for a 1st down. He makes a good pass to a receiver crossing the field , but Grant drops the ball and the Colts are forced to punt. This was Luck’s receivers second dropped pass of the game.11th Passing Attempt — 1 Yard Completion to Eric EbronLuck takes a 7-step drop here, but just as he’s taking his last step he already has pressure in his face and he’s forced to throw to the drag route run by Eric Ebron. Luck makes the smart, safe throw on 2nd down but isn’t rewarded as Ebron is able to do nothing with the catch and is tackled immediately.12th Passing Attempt — Incomplete (Throw Away) Pass to Darrell Daniels (Short)The throw-away was the smart decision, but Luck needs to sense the pressure up the middle earlier and rollout to buy more time. 13th Passing Attempt — 5 Yard Completion to Eric EbronLuck again makes the smart, quick read to Ebron on a crossing route. The pass is on the money, but Ebron is able to do nothing with the pass after it’s caught. This was a well thrown pass by Luck.OverallIt’s tough to grade Luck when his top receiver, TY Hilton, didn’t even play the game and he played with a bunch of receivers who didn’t run very good routes. Luck wasn’t on the money with many of his throws and made some poor decisions, but it isn’t anything alarming, especially considering it’s only his second game back. Every rep he takes in a game situation is a positive and will only help him moving forward. I find the coaching staff has done a very good job easing him back into playing. He’s getting meaningful reps in games and participating fully in practices. With two more preseason games, including the 3rd game where he should see the entire first half, Luck will have one more good outing before suiting up for real. The 4th preseason game is almost always saved for backups and reserves fighting for roster spots, but I’ll be curious to see if the Colts give him a drive in the game. Tom Brady isn't worried about the shortcomings that the Patriots' offense has displayed so far this season — whether it's turnovers or lack of downfield passing.His measuring stick for progress is much more simplistic."It's really not about those things to me. It's about points," Brady said after New England's 38-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night .It was the second straight game the Patriots have scored 38 points. It's also the second consecutive week that it's looked like Brady and the offense are turning a corner following a lackluster 1-2 start to the season that included a paltry 10-point effort in a loss to Detroit."Ultimately we gotta score more points ," Brady said. "We scored 38, which is great. But we have more in us."Buoyed by the return of receiver Julian Edelman from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance enhancers, Brady looked like the reigning regular-season MVP for the first time this season.On a night in which he notched his 500th career regular-season touchdown pass, he spread the ball around to eight receivers and threw for a season-high 341 yards.He was spot-on from the start, completing his first nine passes on an opening drive that ended with a 1-yard TD pass to Cordarrelle Patterson. Brady didn't complete more than two passes on an opening drive in any of the team's first four games.And after an offseason that featured lots of player departures on the offensive side of the ball, Thursday's victory also highlighted just how many weapons Brady still has at his disposal.Rookie running Sony Michel came up just two yards shy of his second straight 100-yard game. Tight end Rob Gronkowski broke out of a recent fog with six catches for 75 yards. And recent acquisition Josh Gordon notched his first touchdown — Brady's 500th — showing off his ability as the big-play threat this offense has been missing.Edelman's return might have simply been an extra cherry on top an already-decadent cake."It was great. There's some things that obviously we have to work on. But it was good to get out there and catch some rocks and go out there and make some plays and be with the fellas," Edelman said. "I haven't played football in like, 405 days or something like that. It was good to be out there with the crowd rocking. It was awesome. It was amazing. It's great to be back."DISAPPOINTING STARTWhile the Patriots are finding their footing, the Colts have lost three straight and slipped to 1-4.One of the recurring themes has been self-inflicted mistakes, particularly turnovers. Indianapolis had three more on Thursday."We're not going to win consistently until we learn how to get out of our own way," Colts quarterback Andrew Luck said. "I think when we look at ourselves, we're going to have to learn how not to lose before we want to give ourselves a chance to win. And so, it's frustrating, the stuff out there. We're all frustrated but I don't think anybody's losing the belief."INJURIES PILING UPLuck did his best to keep Indy in the game , even as injuries continue to pile up around him.Indianapolis entered the game with receiver T.Y. Hilton headlining a list of five starters that were sidelined. The Colts added four more key players to that list on Thursday.Linebacker Anthony Walker left in the first quarter with a concussion. Safety Clayton Geathers was initially evaluated for a concussion early in the second quarter, before clearing the protocol. But he remained out with a neck injury. Defensive tackle Margus Hunt (knee) and DT/DE Denico Autry (hamstring) also both had short nights.Coach Frank Reich said the injuries weren't even discussed entering the game."It's the hand that is dealt you," Reich said. "You can't have penalties, turnovers, and drops against a good team, against any team, especially on the road. So, we just got to pick up the pieces and I still have a lot of confidence in our players.SLINGING IT AROUNDPerhaps because of all the injuries, Luck is having to carry a lot more of the offensive load for the Colts.Over the last two games, he has attempted 121 passes. According to Elias Sports Bureau that's the second-most pass attempts in a two-game span in NFL history and the most ever in a five-day span. Philip Rivers holds the record with 123 pass attempts in Weeks 6 and 7 in 2015.MILESTONESColts K Adam Vinatieri missed a 38-yard field goal in first quarter. But it marked his 673rd attempt, passing Gary Anderson for second on the all-time list.Vinatieri made a 54-yarder in the second quarter on his 674th attempt. He now trails only Morten Andersen's 709 career attempts.With his victory, Brady has now tied Vinatieri for most wins by player in NFL history (226).

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