Colts vs. Patriots: Odds, Storylines to Watch in AFC Championship Game 2015

Beware, the pass-the-torch narratives are coming. 

Andrew Luck did the unthinkable and took down Peyton Manning in Denver, gifting his Indianapolis Colts the right to travel to Foxborough for a date with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

It really writes itself. Luck is the reason Manning left Indianapolis in the first place. Now he turns around and potentially ends Manning's career. Boom.

Agree or disagree, love or hate the situation, Luck has little time to rest on his laurels. After all, Brady marched into Indianapolis earlier this year and laughed on his way out with his feet kicked up after a 42-20 blowout win.

The two meet again, this time with everything on the line.

2015 AFC Championship Odds and Schedule

Date	Matchup	Start Time (ET)	Network	Odds (O/U)
Sunday, January 18	Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots	6:30 p.m.	CBS	NE -7 (53.5)

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark and accurate as of 9 p.m. ET on Jan. 11.

Early Storylines to Watch

Luck's Reinforcements 

AJ Mast/Associated Press

Luck will not be able to do it all on his own in Foxborough.

The Indianapolis front office continues to squeak by with its questionable draft and free-agent decisions thanks to the efforts of Luck in the regular season, but Sunday's win in the divisional round was proof enough—somebody must step up if the Colts are to stay alive.

That somebody in Denver? Not T.Y. Hilton. Not the maligned Trent Richardson. Not the veteran Reggie Wayne. Not even talented, costly tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen.

Try Daniel "Boom" Herron. The former Ohio State star took 23 handoffs and crafted 63 yards and a touchdown. Hey, the per-carry average of 2.7 stinks, but the effort kept the Denver defense honest and helped the Colts to hold the ball for more than 32 minutes of clock.

CBS Sports' Gregg Doyel hits the nail on the head when it comes to Herron's future with the team:

Now compare that to the Week 11 home shellacking at the hands of New England.

Indianapolis' leading rusher there was, well, Luck with his three carries for 15 yards. Ahmad Bradshaw was still around then and gained four yards on seven carries. The front office had yet to admit its mistake, either, as Richardson turned six carries into zero yards. Nada. Zilch. The goose egg. 

The point is no great quarterback can do it all on his own against the best of the best, especially not on the road against perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time.

Ignore the tag; Brady will need some help too.

Brady's Form, Belichick's Approach

It sure does not seem like Brady needs assistance, though.

Saturday's 35-31 escape against Baltimore took everything Brady had and then some.

Forget the 367 yards and three scores. Forget that he led the Patriots back from not one, but two 14-point deficits. Brady can woo over any naysayer with dimes like this:

"Behind twice by 14 wasn't necessarily in the plan," Brady said, per ESPN.com. "It took a lot of execution to overcome it."

Surely, Brady would not mind some help, though? Sports Illustrated's Chris Burke asks the important question: 

Remember Jonas Gray? The guy who birthed the term "Jonas Gray Game" for his 37 carries for 201 yards and four touchdowns against the Colts this season?

After that outburst, Gray fell back to irrelevancy—much to the disdain of many a fantasy owner—and received double-digit carries in one game the rest of the season.

Gray is but one example of what makes the Patriots so difficult to deal with, especially in the postseason. Indianapolis has no idea what Bill Belichick might scheme up, including another appearance from Gray. Maybe a familiar foe such as LeGarrette Blount gets a ton of work. Who knows?

Combine this with Brady's current level of play and home-field advantage, and well, Las Vegas may be on to something with this opening line.

Then again, Luck was an underdog this past weekend, too. 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).