Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano held no punches when discussing quarterback Andrew Luck after their loss
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The Indianapolis Colts were absolutely manhandled by the New York Jets on Monday Night Football in Week Two of the 2015 NFL season. It was the second consecutive week that an elite defense had its way with Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and his team. After the loss, Colts head coach Chuck Pagano wasn’t about to sugarcoat things for his quarterback or his team.
Following the defeat, Pagano went right at Luck in his postgame presser when he said, “He’s got to take care of the football. It’s not that hard. It’s not trigonometry.” While singling out players isn’t always the best strategy for head coaches, it was clearly on the agenda for Pagano.
Pagano’s frustrations undoubtedly stemmed from Luck’s turnover-filled performance against the Jets. Luck threw three interceptions in the game and lost a fumble to go along with the trio of picks. He wasn’t the only one giving the ball to the Jets, though, as running back Frank Gore also coughed up the pigskin during the loss. Pagano reiterated how costly that was, saying, “Can’t turn the damn ball over.”
Luck’s struggles were obvious on Monday night, and a lot of it can be attributed to the fact that he had about 0.1 seconds in the pocket before he was under fire from the Jets defense. Whether it was a simple four-man rush or a blitz coming his way from the New York defense, Luck was under fire from the Jets thanks to poor blocking from his offensive line.
However, Pagano wasn’t about to give Luck the benefit of the doubt, even in that regard. When asked about it, the Colts coach said that the troubles with the Indy offensive line wasn’t a recent development and has been an issue for the Colts and for Luck for three years. Pagano then added, “He should be more than comfortable dealing with it.” Like I said, the coach held no punches.
There is something to Pagano’s point in that Luck has to handle pressure from defenses better than he has in the first two weeks of the 2015 season. However, the point remains that the Colts front office has done a relatively abysmal job of putting a proper offensive line and/or full team around their star quarterback. If that doesn’t happen, it won’t matter if Luck makes better decisions or not; the Colts aren’t going to reach their potential without some protection and substantial assistance for Luck.
[H/T to ProFootballTalk]
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