“He kept telling us, even at 38-10, ‘We’re going to win this game’,” Anthony Castonzo said.
Champions never quit. Winners never give up. Yesterday afternoon, the Indianapolis Colts were down four touchdowns in the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs. They looked over matched in every facet of the game: offense, defense and special teams. But one man never gave up. And even though the second year quarterback had already thrown three interceptions, he still somehow managed to keep the faith. He still thought his team could come back from being 28 points down to one of the best defenses in the NFL.
Andrew Luck was right.
With time ticking away in the third quarter, logically speaking, the Colts only had about five or six possessions left. Against all odds, the 24-year-old signal caller told his team, “There’s no 28-point touchdowns.”
It would take five touchdown scoring drives to mount the second biggest comeback in the history of the NFL. The resurgence went something like this. Two Donald Brown rushing touchdowns, a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tight End Coby Fleener, a miraculous fumble recovery by Luck at the goal line for a touchdown and a 64-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton to take the lead, 45-44.
Will never forget this moment Andrew Luck pic.twitter.com/x6IyUmzwEn
— Ballout or Fallout™ (@dgrant23_) January 5, 2014
In the middle of all that, the Chiefs were forced to settle for two field goals. And in the end, the much maligned Colts defense stayed strong and held the lead with 4:21 still left to play in the fourth quarter.
Veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri, who won two Super Bowls with one of the best quarterbacks ever in Tom Brady, praised Luck’s maturity and confidence. “It seems like nothing ever bothers him. It can be a play that doesn’t work out for us, those interceptions. He just shakes it off and throws bullets down the field. I don’t think you can rattle him.”
The Colts will face the Patriots next Saturday night at 8 pm in New England. It will be a Luck versus Brady matchup, the new guard against the old guard. Chances are Luck won’t beat a Patriot team by turning the ball over three times, but we know for sure that he will never quit. Not ever.
The Colts took a risk by letting Peyton Manning go.
They hit the Jackpot with Andrew Luck. pic.twitter.com/EKZu76XQTq
— ESPN (@espn) January 5, 2014
Image via Facebook