Is Luck Running Out For The Colts?

The Indianapolis Colts traveled to London to face their division rival the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 4 of the NFL season. The Colts struggled to move the ball in the first half of the game, trailing at the half 17-6. The Colts did find ground in the second half, out-scoring the Jaguars 21-13 (all 21 points coming in the fourth quarter), but it ended up being too late. They came up short losing 30-27.

The Colts have fallen to 1-3 on the season and have found themselves at the bottom of the AFC South early in the season.

There has been something missing in Indy, or maybe there's something missing from their star-quarterback Andrew Luck.

Now don't take this post the wrong way, I'm a big fan of Luck and I think that his talent could make him a top-5 quarterback in the league.

Early in his career, Luck was somewhat a hero for Indianapolis. He was drafted first overall in the 2012 NFL draft and was giving hope to a fan base that had just lost one of the greatest professional athletes that town has ever had, and one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, Peyton Manning just a few years earlier. Through his first three seasons, Luck had over 10,000 passing yards, 86 passing touchdowns and 12 rushing. And most impressive, he helped lead the Colts to the playoffs all three years and in 2014 they made it to the AFC championship game, but ended up losing to the New England Patriots. However, even though they didn't win, that gave the city a lot of hope and even Super Bowl dreams for the near future.

2015 was a very down year for Luck and the Colts. Not only did the team not make the playoffs, Luck didn't finish the season due to injury. Injuries were bound to happen for Luck, though he's never really suffered any major injuries prior to this in his short career. If this team doesn't want a repeat of the 2015 season, for Luck, they need to do a better job in pass-protection; he has been sacked 15 times through the first four games, leading the NFL.

I think the major problem for this Colts organization is that they're trying to continue to build in places they don't need to. Since drafting Luck in 2012, the Colts have drafted one offensive lineman in the first round and have only drafted one the defensive player; they drafted Bjoern Werner in 2013 (Werner was recently released) with their first-round selection, the very next player drafted was defensive back Xavier Rhodes and five selections later linebacker Alec Ogletree was selected - both are showing that they're pro bowl-caliber players.

The Colts are giving up 31.3 points per game, through four games, this season; they're near the bottom of league in yards given up, also, allowing 383 yards per game. 

I wouldn't give up on this Colts team just four games in. A 1-3 start isn't the ideal start for any team, especially one who has one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Andrew Luck. And I don't think it's time to start pointing the finger at him, he's not responsible for a lot of the recent hiccups on the team. It is time to start looking at the head coach, Chuck Pagano, who was on the hot-seat all of last season and maybe even the people in the front office.

Week five could dictate the remainder of the Colts' season, as they are 1-3, which is tied for second place in a woeful AFC south. Can Luck and the Colts prevail in a game against a Bears team that looks to be depleted on both sides of the football, or has luck run out for Andrew & company in the 2016 season?