Bengals vs. Colts: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 NFL Playoffs

Some say the true test of a franchise quarterback is whether he learns from his mistakes—whether early failures become mere stumbling blocks on the road to stardom or come to define who he is under center. For Andrew Luck and Andy Dalton, January football has been the obstacle holding them back from being mentioned with the Bradys and Mannings.    

On Sunday, Luck took the next step on his journey.

The Indianapolis Colts quarterback threw for 376 yards, Daniel Herron turned in 141 all-purpose yards and Indy's defense thwarted Dalton's depleted Cincinnati Bengals offense en route to a 26-10 victory in their Wild Card Round matchup Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

While the win is Luck's second postseason triumph in as many years, it was by far his steadiest performance. Across three playoff performances before Sunday, Luck had thrown eight interceptions—seven of which came last year. Many remember Luck's epic second-half comeback against Kansas City last season, but few remember how his three picks helped dig the hole. The following week in New England, Luck threw four more interceptions in a game where Indianapolis' margin for error was nil.

“You see people try to build these guys up instead of evaluating what they are,” former Patriots receiver Troy Brown told Patriots Live this week, per Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. “[Luck] is what he is—he’s a decent quarterback. He’s a good quarterback against bad football teams.”

The spectacular heights were fewer and farther between against Cincinnati, but Luck did exactly what was needed. He completed 31 of 44 passes, taking what the Cincinnati defense gave him and avoiding costly mistakes. His third-quarter touchdown pass to Donte Moncrief saw Luck patiently wait for the route to develop amid a swarming sea of Bengals players, and he uncorked a perfect 36-yard strike on the run for what proved to be the game-clinching score.

Indianapolis will travel to Denver next week, where Luck can hop over another narrative huddle. Taking down Peyton Manning on the road could be seen as an official passing of the torch that began three years ago when the Colts released their Hall of Famer and selected Luck in the 2012 draft.

Manning and Luck have gone head-to-head each of the last two seasons, with each holding their home field. The Broncos toppled Indianapolis 31-24 in Denver on 2014's opening Sunday. The rematch will undoubtedly bring near-constant discussions of the Colts' move away from Manning, which revitalized the Denver franchise and made them Super Bowl contenders.

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"No question, it really changed the whole dynamic of the league, if you really look back," Colts owner Jim Irsay told Michael Silver of NFL.com in October. "When [we released him] and with the coverage of Peyton's free-agency tour and everything, and the teams that were involved…you know, as soon as that decision happened, the dominoes came and affected the league in such a massive way."

On the other sideline, Cincinnati's quarterback situation is far closer to crisis than ascent. This is Dalton's fourth postseason loss in as many seasons. Each time, the Bengals have failed to score more than 13 points, and their play under center was one of the biggest reasons.

Dalton managed only 155 yards through the air, completing 18 of his 35 passes. A majority of his completions came to running backs Gio Bernard and Rex Burkhead, while tight end Ryan Hewitt added three grabs for 37 yards. Dalton's lone pass of 20-plus yards went to Burkhead on a play where the running back did most of the work after the catch.

With the Red Rocket in the first season of a six-year, $96 million contract, the Bengals are in no position to move on, but they may be having buyer's remorse. Dalton regressed in nearly every major statistical category in 2014, and at age 27, he remains a big-game question mark. In his four postseason appearances, Dalton has managed a lone touchdown pass against six interceptions.

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“Winning in general is how quarterbacks are judged,” Dalton told reporters this week. “If you win a lot in the regular season but you haven’t won a lot in the postseason, then they’re going to say that you couldn’t do something.”

Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis moves to 0-6 in the postseason with the loss. He and Jim Mora are the only two coaches in league history to lose their first six playoff games. It bears watching whether the Bengals consider any changes to their coaching staff given their deep investment in this core and Lewis' lack of postseason success.

Criticism of Dalton and Lewis may be less pointed given that top wideout A.J. Green and tight end Jermaine Gresham missed the game due to injuries. Green has emerged as a star over the last four seasons, while Gresham is a steady blocker and pass-catcher underneath.

The Colts also did an excellent job of keeping Cincinnati's healthy skill-position players in check. Jeremy Hill, who'd rushed for 100 yards each of the last three weeks, was limited to 47 on 13 carries. He scored the Bengals' lone touchdown in the first quarter. Mohamed Sanu, who excelled earlier this season in Green's place, was held to three grabs for 31 yards.

After a 7-7 first quarter that saw Cincinnati compete on both sides of the ball, the Colts dominated. On their first two drives, the Bengals accumulated 115 total yards. On their next nine, they had just 95. Kevin Huber was forced to punt eight times and the Colts ended all chances of a comeback with a strip-sack, one of the game's two turnovers. 

Jerrell Freeman had 15 total tackles and 1.5 sacks for the Colts. Helping out Luck offensively were Herron and T.Y. Hilton, and the former seems to have completely supplanted Trent Richardson within the offense. Herron carried the ball 12 times for 56 yards on the ground and added a career-high 10 receptions for 85 yards through the air. Zurlon Tipton, who had 10 career carries coming into this week, had 11 for 40 yards on Sunday, as he also kept Richardson on the sideline.

Hilton earned his third straight 100-yard playoff performance with a six-catch, 103-yard afternoon.

But as was the case last year, Indianapolis' job is far from finished. Again, a pillar of the NFL's past stands in Luck and Co.'s way as they try to make the next step. Last season, Tom Brady and the Patriots gave the Colts a 43-22 lesson in Foxborough. 

For Luck to ascend into the next stratosphere, he'll have to learn from those errors and finally get his first road playoff win. Sunday was an awfully impressive first step.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter