There's good news, and there's bad news for Colts fans. The good news is that Andrew Luck looked nothing short of impressive in his first start for his new team. The bad news is he looked great against the St. Louis Rams.
Luck's numbers were impressive. He started the game by tossing a 63 yard touchdown pass, and he finished 10 of 16 for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns. If nothing else, the performance shows that Luck can move the ball down the field in an NFL setting.
As I alluded to earlier, there's reason to take Luck's success with a grain of salt. The Rams are one of the worst teams in the NFL, and it's going to take more than a single offseason for head coach Jeff Fisher to turn the franchise's fortunes around.
It's also a bit of a misnomer to say that luck threw a 63 yard touchdown pass on the Colts' first offensive play. Yes, Luck gets credit for all 63 of those yards, but 61 yards came after the catch. The pass was essentially a dump-off that went the distance.
Even so, don't let my pessimistic view weigh down expectations too much. Even if you take out what amounted to a fluke play, Luck still threw for over 120 yards on 9 completions with a touchdown. Possibly most importantly, the young quarterback didn't turn the ball over, and that will be a key for the Colts to win games in 2012.
Andrew Luck was in control of the Colts' offense. He's their man, and early returns are very good, but take today's result with a grain of salt. There will be bumps in the road, and it may get ugly at some point this season. There's reason to expect big things from Luck, but let's hold off on lumping him in with Johnny Unitas and Peyton Manning.
