Posted on August 21, 2018, by Travis Pulver
Week Two of the preseason wrapped up Monday night with the Indianapolis Colts taking on the Baltimore Ravens at home. It was the first time Colts fans were seeing their quarterback take the field at home since 2016.
In the end—it wasn’t a great game for Andrew Luck but at least he’s playing again, right?
Via @NFLNewsNow247
When you have been off for as long as he has, rust is going to be a factor. While his mechanics look fine, there were times where he appeared to make the wrong decision or was slow to make one. When that happened, the Ravens defense went ahead and made it for him.
Sign up for a FREE Consultation to start working with Legendary Sports Bettor Jon Price
It wasn’t a great game, but it wasn’t a bad one either—it’s the preseason. Like every other preseason game, there are things that fans can take away from it:
- Andrew Luck got whacked and survived! Terrell Suggs took him down on the first of two sacks. But while the hit looked hard, Luck popped right back up and appeared to be perfectly fine.
“I told Anthony [Castonzo] on the sidelines, ‘Man, it was sort of fun to get hit by Suggs right there,’ and he gave me a death stare,” Luck said after the game. “Only because that’s going to be the only time this year that happens, right?”
- Beyond surviving a Terrell Suggs sack, there isn’t much good to say about Luck’s night. He was 6-13 for 50 yards and an interception (in the red zone). You could say he was trying to make a play but you could also say the throw was a bad decision. He only led the team to points on one of his five drives, a 57-yard field goal. It was also the only drive where he had a first down.
- The best part of the game for the Colts was the play of Defensive linemen Denico Autry,John Simon and Hassan Ridgeway. The trio made plays and harassed the Ravens offense as long as they were in the game. It was the kind of play the Colts haven’t seen in the defensive front in years.
- Indianapolis is going to be hurting at running back this season. Marlon Mack didn’t play because he’s nursing an injury. Nyheim Hines has some serious trouble holding onto the ball. Jordan Wilkins lost a ball at the goal line (which Chester Rogers was lucky enough to pick up). Josh Ferguson didn’t run well (two carries for one yard). Christine Michael didn’t do much with his carries (eight carries for 24 yards).
- Joe Flacco (7-9 for 72 yards and a touchdown) didn’t play long, but when you look as good as he did, you don’t need to.
“It was good to get down there and get a score at the end and get a little taste for what John [Brown] (who caught his touchdown pass) can do and get all those guys involved a little bit,” Flacco said.
- Lamar Jackson (7-15 for 49 yards and a touchdown; four carries for 26 yards) may not even be the QB2 when the regular season starts. He has yet to complete 50 percent of his passes in a game. While he has shown flashes of his play-making ability, he overthrows a lot and struggles from the pocket. It is probably safe to say that Joe Flacco’s job is safe for at least this year (and maybe next).
- But since Robert Griffin III is playing well, the Ravens will not need to force Jackson into the game should Flacco go down.
- The game was very sloppy. By the end of the night, 21 penalties were called. The ball was on the ground five times resulting in three turnovers. Indianapolis also threw a pair of interceptions.
- For those that keep score, the Ravens won 20-19.
The Ravens will travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins this Saturday. The Colts will also play on Saturday when they host the Seattle Seahawks.