ESPN Pins Andrew Luck’s Injury On Colts’ Lack Of Attention To O-Line

Methinks many people in here were on to this (i.e. bad picks; not taking care of their O-line) one- just go back and read some of the older threads here. Admittedly, I was not one of them. Rather, I learned it from many of the bright posters here. So, thanks for that. Cheers!

I'll say that Matt Hasselbeck doesn't seem to have nearly the problems with the offensive line that Andrew Luck has had.

Maybe they just don't block for Maroney...er...Luck.

TommyD4207 said:

I'll say that Matt Hasselbeck doesn't seem to have nearly the problems with the offensive line that Andrew Luck has had.

Maybe they just don't block for Maroney...er...Luck.

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Maybe Luck just holds the ball too long. Agreed Hasselbeck doesn't look nearly as bad behind the same line. Curious to see who will start against us. I am sure we are in for 10 days of, "Who will start at QB?" to make the Pats prepare for both.

I suspect it has to do with pre snap reads and adjustments he makes to plays and to his protection. Brady is a master of this which is partially why his protection is always so good. Matt Hasselbeck is a 16 year vet with 165 career starts. He's probably more advanced in this area than Luck.

To look at an extreme example of this, look at the Redskins. With Griffin, the OL play looks horrible. With Cousins, it is drastically improved.

Agree with both points above (tommyD4207 and PatsDeb): the blocking on Watt and Clowney was dominant from what little I saw (2nd and 3rd quarters). Wilfork, sadly, looked like a shadow of his former self. Could it be that Luck is more of a prima donna than he appears, always looking to make the big plays instead of the ones that keep the chains moving? Turnovers irritate everyone, especially the O-Line if they have followed the script. Luck does appear to have the Favre self-belief that his limbs will win the game, a belief that has landed him on the injury report (23 hits in 3 games).

Hasselbeck was more than decent and got the ball out in good time. He is probably one of the top 5 backup quarterbacks in the league, if not top 3. The Colts would love to win their next game more than any other, and the 40 year old might be their better option.

The OL is the same excuse that P6 used to use when he was one-and-done-ing Indy fans.

Seeing how confused Luck has looked lately, I'm starting to wonder if it was only his passing ability that got him into Stanford.

Before the SB game, Brady was quoted as saying something along the line of there is no game that I would want to win more than this one. The Indy game in a couple of weeks might be at that same level.

Meh...bad offensive lines give up more pressures, hits, and sacks. Injuries are random, though. The Cowboys have the best offensive line in the league...are they to blame for Romo's injury, which came on a sack? The Steelers are decent up front finally, it's their fault that Big Ben is hurt? And there are tons of crappy offensive lines who give up lots of hits but their QB is standing tall at the end of the year. Just saying, it's a big leap of logic to correlate the injury with protection, and we don't even know when it happened either.

1960Pats said:

Seeing how confused Luck has looked lately, I'm starting to wonder if it was only his passing ability that got him into Stanford.

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Elway went to Stanford. Need I write more?

ESPN and sports analysis? It used to be that they were good for SportsCenter. But now there's the internet.

Brady had the fourth lowest sacks among starters in 2007 (21). Cassell led the league in sacks in 2008 (47), behind basically the same line, with fewer pass attempts.

Luck has a lot to do with his line sucking.

Bobsyouruncle said:

Brady had the fourth lowest sacks among starters in 2007 (21). Cassell led the league in sacks in 2008 (47), behind basically the same line, with fewer pass attempts.

Luck has a lot to do with his line sucking.

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What's also true is that if you know your line is weak, you game plan to get rid of the ball quickly on short routes (Tom Brady anyone?). The Colts and/or Luck seem incapable, so far, at least, of making adjustments. Although Hasselbeck clearly made them. You don't know if that is the player or coaching or a combo of both.

How many "Hall of Fame" caliber offensive lineman have blocked for Tom Brady during his tenure?

SammyBlueCat said:

How many "Hall of Fame" caliber offensive lineman have blocked for Tom Brady during his tenure?

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Remember in 2008 the same guys that made the pro-bowl in 2007 gave up the most sacks in the league for like 5 weeks as Cassel learned?