USA TODAY Sports' Tom Pelissero breaks down what's ahead for the Colts in their looming matchup with the Broncos.
Video TranscriptAutomatically Generated Transcript (may not be 100% accurate)
00:03 The colts are headed back in the AFC divisional playoffs 00:06 after Andrew Luck off balance touchdown pass and got in mind 00:10 create. Highlighted a 26 to ten win. Over the Cincinnati Bengals 00:15 on Sunday. In Indianapolis. Now we're going to get to find 00:20 out what their lot and his team are ready to take 00:23 out one of the AFC's elite. On a really big stage. 00:27 The beauty of the colts win was locked didn't have to 00:30 do it all himself though certainly he held up his end 00:33 completing 31 of 44 passes. For 376. Yards with Trent Richardson 00:39 yelled boom Herron ends early and chipped in. Both ran effectively 00:43 hearings fumbles notwithstanding. And the colts defense clamped down in the 00:48 second half. I get to Cincinnati offense that plainly wasn't itself 00:52 we AJ green sidelined. The other three teams still line in 00:57 the AF CR the past three conference champions Denver. Baltimore and 01:03 New England all veteran teams with veteran quarterbacks who have won 01:07 Super Bowls. The colts on the other hand still relying a 01:10 lot of a sending young players. In key positions. Nobody more 01:15 important than Andrew Locke who east tour in five so hard 01:18 his career against Peyton Manning Joseph Flacco and Tom Brady. Including 01:23 Owen to in the playoffs. The next stop for the colts 01:27 is Denver where the Broncos won the season opener back on 01:31 September 7. Kick off sit for 4:40 eastern next Sunday.
Jan 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) waves to the crowd as he leaves the field after the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lucas Oil Stadium.(Photo: Thomas J. Russo, USA TODAY Sports)
INDIANAPOLIS Sure, Andrew Luck has a great arm. Can beat defenses with his feet, too.
What makes Luck great and will put him in the same category as Indianapolis Colts predecessor Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers sooner rather than later is his adaptability.
Lock up his No. 1 receiver and he'll find someone else. Sideline the Colts starting running back, and he'll feed whoever is behind him. Ask him to play behind an offensive line that has seen more changes than a model at a fashion show, and he'll shrug it off.
So long as there's someone who can hike him the ball and someone he can get it to, the Colts' Luck is all good.
"Every win is a definite team effort. But you've got a guy under center who can make plays, can make something out of nothing, takes what the defense gives him and he just kind of manages the game the way you need him to," offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo said.
"We're very happy to have him back there."
Granted, the Cincinnati Bengals imploded in the second half of the Colts' 26-10 victory in the AFC wild-card Sunday.
But that had as much to do with Luck as their own ineptitude.
Even with starting running back Trent Richardson sidelined after an illness forced him to miss practice and the Colts starting their 11th combination at offensive line, Indianapolis was the better team Sunday. But as has been the case other times this season, the Colts struggled in the red zone.
Indianapolis reached the Cincinnati 17-yard line or beyond three times in the first half, only to settle for a pair of field goals and a touchdown. Clinging to a 13-10 lead early in the third, Luck was flushed out of the pocket.
Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap was nipping at Luck's ankle, causing him to pitch forward. But as he was falling, Luck spotted Donte Moncrief downfield and let it fly.
Never mind that Cincinnati safety George Iloka was blanketing Moncrief. Or that the rookie is not the first, second or even third option in the Colts offense.
Luck saw an opening and took it.
"That one magical play to Moncrief was Andrew at his finest," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. "He was a maestro back there."
Moncrief made the 36-yard catch at the very edge of the upper corner of the end zone for his fourth TD of the season, the Colts had an insurmountable lead and Luck had one more clip for his growing highlight reel.
"That changed the whole game for us because all we did (from there) was pin our ears back and just go," Colts defensive end Ricky Jean Francois said. "Anytime we give this guy good field position on that field, we need to sit back and eat some popcorn.
"It won't be shocking because we know he'll do it, but it'll just be a nice show to see."
The victory was Luck's second in the playoffs, evening his postseason record at 2-2 after just three seasons. Most quarterbacks would happily take those kind of numbers at this early stage in their careers.
But Luck isn't most quarterbacks.
Until he takes the Colts to the Super Bowl, or at least the AFC Championship, Luck will always be in the shadow of You-Know-Who. And, wouldn't you know it, the Colts will have to beat Manning and the Denver Broncos next Sunday to reach their first AFC title game since Manning was writing the record books in Indianapolis.
"Having a guy that's big and strong like Andrew and can create moving forward, looking at next week, he's going to have to do the same thing," Pagano said. "He's going to have to create some plays. He's going to have to move around and get some first downs with his legs and those type of things."
He'll also have to adapt, because that's what the great NFL quarterbacks do. And as Sunday's game showed, Luck is well on his way to being one of them.
PHOTOS: Best of NFL wild-card weekend
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