Colts and Andrew Luck’s Week 2 just got more challenging
The Colts may need to score lots of points to beat the Redskins on Sunday, the absence of Anthony Castonzo is going to make that a challenge.
Teams that begin their seasons with a record of 0-2 only manage to recover and make the playoffs about 10 percent of the time. That’s why the Colts really need to beat Washington this weekend. Unfortunately, Andrew Luck’s job will be much more difficult without Andrew Castonzo in the lineup to protect his blind side.
Frank Reich is adamant that Castonzo has only suffered a “minor setback” but he has ruled the left tackle out for the game against Washington. That will put a lot of pressure onto Joe Haeg to contain the Redskins’ pass rush. Jonathan Allen will certainly do his best to take advantage of the Colts’ backup.
The good news for Indianapolis fans is that there doesn’t appear to be any chance Castonzo lands on IR. He might still miss another game or two, but his season is not in jeopardy. If this offense is going to consistently score points in 2018, they’ll need to protect Luck at all costs. Castonzo is a big piece of that puzzle.
Reich: "I think it was a minor setback." No consideration of IR at this point on Castonzo, he says.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 14, 2018
Look for the Colts to rely even more on short, quick passes against the Redskins. That’s not great news for T.Y. Hilton, but it might play directly into Ryan Grant’s skill set. Expect him to get more targets on short and intermediate routes against his old team.
The real player this will impact is Luck. In a perfect world, he’d like to test Washington’s secondary down the field. Josh Norman is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, but Quenton Dunbar is a bit of a question mark on the other side. The diminished ability of the Colts’ offensive line to protect Luck for longer developing pass plays will make life much easier on the Redskins’ secondary.
Next. Colts need luck to go deep against the Redskins. dark
Losing Castonzo doesn’t doom the Colts’ chances of evening their record on Sunday, but it is a major blow for a team looking to build continuity on offense. It will take a special effort from Luck to overcome the loss of the team’s best tackle.