Andrew Luck's Heroics Not Enough to Overcome Inept Colts Defense

Heading into the 2016 season, fans of the Indianapolis Colts breathlessly awaited the return of a healthy Andrew Luck. With their quarterback back in the fold, the belief was that the Colts would quickly regain their perch atop the AFC South.

Sure enough, Luck was back on the field Sunday afternoon against the Detroit Lions. And No. 12 was in All-Pro form, having his way with a besieged Lions secondary.

But when the dust had settled at Lucas Oil Stadium after one of Week 1's wildest games, Luck and the Colts found themselves on the short end of a 39-35 shootout.

With that Week 1 loss came a sobering realization for the 2016 Colts. It may not matter how good Andrew Luck is. How many yards he passes for. How many touchdowns he throws.

Because Luck can't do it all himself...and he isn't getting much help.

There's plenty of blame to be passed around for the Colts falling into a 21-3 hole and then coming up just short in a frenetic comeback bid—and very little of it falls on the team's young quarterback.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Luck was masterful in his first start since last Nov. 8. He completed 31 of 47 pass attempts for 385 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. He hit eight different receivers during the game and posted a passer rating of almost 120.

Before the game, running back Frank Gore told ESPN.com's Mike Wells he was looking forward to watching Luck make his doubters eat their words.

"Can't wait for the first game for him to start to prove a lot of people wrong, even though I know he probably doesn't listen to it, but we're all human," Gore said. "We hear things they say. He's happy to be back and ready to go."

After the game, as Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star tweeted, Gore was a bit more...explicit:

Those words came with a side of crow. Luck played as well as possible. Better, even. He sent a resounding message to the rest of the NFL—Sheriff Andy is back in town.

While that message was being sent, however, another was traveling right beside it. And that message read: "The Colts can't stop anybody."

To say that the Colts defense was awful does a disservice to just how awful it was. Inside linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, theoretically the team's best defensive player, only had two assisted tackles in the game. The run defense was nonexistent, allowing 116 rushing yards to a Detroit team that ranked dead last in the NFL in that category in 2015.

As Andrew Walker of the team's website tweeted, Jackson didn't mince words when describing the team's defensive effort on Sunday:

With top cornerback Vontae Davis on the shelf and no pass rush whatsoever, the pass defense was even worse.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford missed on only eight of his 39 attempts, largely because he had enough time in the pocket to make a tuna melt and watch an episode of Modern Family...with commercials.

Four different Detroit receivers caught five or more passes, and the Lions converted more than half of their third-down attempts.

Even when Luck and the Colts took back the lead with less than a minute left, the defense couldn't hold. In fact, it offered no resistance whatsoever as the Lions drove to set up Matt Prater's game-winning kick.

To his credit, Luck tried to deflect some of the blame from the defense, taking responsibility for a slow start from the offense (via Kevin Bowen of the team's website):

But the Colts' nonexistent defense put Luck in an untenable position. Three of the Lions' first four drives resulted in touchdowns. It doesn't matter how good a quarterback is—forcing him to score touchdowns every time he has the ball just to keep pace is a recipe to get beat.

Yes, the Colts are banged up defensively. Three starters were out entering Sunday's opener, including a pair of key contributors in the secondary. But no one was comparing the Colts at full strength to the 1985 Bears. On Sunday, they looked more like the 2015 Giants.

That's not a compliment.

Heading into the season, Colts fans had reason to hope Luck's return would lead to a quick return to the playoffs. As the Indianapolis Star's Stephen Holder tweeted, the league's highest-paid player held up his end of the deal:

But unless the Indy defense gets significantly better in a hurry, it isn't going to matter whether Luck is "back" or not.

At least it won't unless he can play defensive back, too.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.