Andrew Luck Archives - NFL Breakdowns

Andrew Luck had his best season so far in 2014 throwing a league leading 40 regular season touchdowns and leading the Colts to the AFC Championship game. In this article we’ll take a look at some of Luck’s best touchdowns and see part of what gave him such a great season and why he’s still poised to get even better.

Before we go into Luck’s plays, let’s take a look at some of the stats on Luck’s TDs.

Receiver Breakdown


Dwayne Allen	9
T.Y. Hilton	7
Coby Fleener	7
Ahmad Bradshaw	6
Hakeem Nicks	5
Donte Moncreif	4
Reggie Wayne	2
Jack Doyle	2
Anthony Castonzo	1

Quarter Breakdown


1st Quarter	9
2nd Quarter	11
3rd Quarter	14
4th Quarter	9

Down Breakdown


1st Down	13
2nd Down	13
3rd Down	16
4th Down	1

Route Breakdown


Go/Stop-n-Go/Out-n-Up	14
Slant/Drag	4
Block and Release	4
Post	3
Swing Route	3
HB Out/HB Angle	3
Flat	3
Out/In Route	3
Curl	2
Fade	1
Corner	1
Comeback	1
Deep Zig	1

Location Breakdown

Deep Left	3	Deep Middle	0	Deep Right	10
Intermediate Left	1	Intermediate Middle	2	Intermediate Right	1
Short Left	12	Short Middle	3	Short Right	11

Distance Breakdown

Fewer than 6 yards	14
Between 6 and 15 yards	11
Greater than 15 yards	18

As these stats show, the Colts really like going for the long ball to get their points. With speedy wide receivers like T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncreif Luck had no problem finding his receivers in space on deep routes.… Article continues here

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The score is 7 to 21, the Patriots are coming out with the ball in their home stadium and the Colts need to make plays on offense quickly if they want to stay in the game. Well, that doesn’t end up happening.

Operation: Doomsday

This isn’t where the Colts envisioned the game would be at when they were preparing for the AFC Championship game. They thought they could find some space for their deep passing game and when they didn’t, that Luck could have enough time to get to his underneath routes. Nope.

When they came back on offense, the Colts first play was an attempt to follow the openings they found in the Patriots man defense.

On this play, WR #13 Hilton, TE #80 Fleener and TE #83 Allen clear out all the space behind them for WR #87 Reggie Wayne to come through and be wide open for an easy catch. However, the Colts shifted their line to the left and as a result LDE #50 Ninkovich has a free unblocked rush on Andrew Luck. I guess that solves the problem of RT #76 Reitz getting beat over and over again but it doesn’t stop Ninkovich.

Here, it’s Moncrief’s Skinny Post blocking Dwayne Allen’s man, leaving Allen open for an easy throw to the outside. These plays worked for the underneath and the Colts kept using them throughout the second half but they’re also only short yardage gains and eating up time.

They continue using these Underneath picks but they still mix in their deep routes in-between each play.… Article continues here

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With all the hype that came with two great Quarterbacks playing against each other in the playoffs, this game became one of the most one sided matches of the playoff season. Despite the Colts opting to drop back Andrew Luck 23 times in the first half, they only had 12 positive plays come out of it, a success rate barely passing 50% which includes two penalties. How did the Patriots do it?

Rob Ninkovich Will Break You

The Patriots were well aware of the Colts potent passing attack and had to figure out a way to keep them from being able to stretch the field, which they would try to do plenty of times in the first half calling for verticals, deep ins, posts, and corner routes. The Patriots even dared them to try by only rushing four players on each down and playing with one deep safety for a majority of the half. You know what stops deep routes from getting hit though, pressure and coverage.

If there was a game ball given for just the first half of a game, Ninkovich would be far and away the obvious candidate for the most valuable player. He managed to beat his man and force Luck to move in the pocket 8 times by my count (with some help from Chandler Jones) and bat down 2 passes in just two quarters of football. The Patriots identified that RT Joe Reitz had trouble reacting to stunts and couldn’t keep up with Ninkovich’s speed rush so they abused him with both.… Article continues here