You probably should not go handing the NFL’s rookie of the year trophy to Robert Griffin III quite yet. As good as the Redskins’ quarterback has been so far this season — not withstanding a rough afternoon against Carolina on Sunday in a loss — Andrew Luck is making some noise, too.
That’s as it should be. The Indianapolis Colts made him the No. 1 pick ahead of Griffin for a reason, after all. A team that finished 2-14 last season and was expected to be one of the NFL’s worst in 2012 is instead in playoff contention at 5-3 after a 23-20 win over the Miami Dolphins at home Sunday. All Luck did was throw for 433 yards and two touchdowns.
That broke Cam Newton’s record for passing yards in a game by a rookie (422) set just last season with the Carolina Panthers. Luck recorded his fourth game with 300 or more passing yards. In league history, only Peyton Manning — the man, ironically, whom Luck replaced under center for the Colts this season — had ever done that as a rookie, according to the Associated Press. Luck completed 30 of 48 passes in the win and looked every bit the franchise quarterback that Indianapolis selected out of Stanford last spring. He still has eight chances remaining to break that tie with Manning and seems a sure bet to do so given several winnable games down the stretch.
“The kid, he continues to amaze,” Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne, always one of Manning’s favorite targets over the years, told reporters in Indianapolis afterward. “Hopefully I can help add on to his legacy that he’s about to build.”
Luck knew when to play his best, too. He hit T.Y. Hilton with a 36-yard touchdown pass with just 1:49 left in the third quarter to put the Colts ahead 20-17. He also answered a game-tying drive by the Dolphins in the fourth quarter with a 13-play, 69-yard drive of his own that led to the eventual game-winning field goal with 5:58 left to play. Indianapolis is currently the fifth seed in the AFC playoff picture.
– Brian McNally
