Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl Hopes Will Disappear Without Andrew Luck Improving

You could explain away the Indianapolis Colts' Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

A road game in one of the most hostile stadiums in the league, against a team with virtually zero tape. It was a game against a team that was a terrible matchup, in a week that often produces odd results across the league. A poor performance in a perfect storm type of game could be waved away as a part of the game.

But twice in a row?

Even against another very talented defense, one that is a poor matchup for Indianapolis on the whole, that's inexcusable.

This is a team that was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, even favorite, in 2015. This was an offense that was supposed to challenge the record book. Neither of those two things look like rather likely situations after two weeks.

Naturally, we will look for somebody to blame.

In all fairness, everybody is to blame.

"

What an absolute mess. #Colts

— Adam Schein (@AdamSchein) September 22, 2015"

The general manager is to blame, having put together a roster with major holes on the offensive line and linebacker positions. The head coach is to blame, for a team that has come out looking unprepared far too many times over the last year. The offensive coordinator is to blame, having been unable to direct a cohesive offense despite plenty of talent at the skill positions.

The players are to blame. Penalties, fumbles, miscommunication, missed field goals and dropped punts. You name it, it's gone wrong for the players on the field in these first two weeks. Frank Gore fumbled without contact with a free run to the goal line on Sunday. Andre Johnson has failed to get open against man coverage.

At the heart, however, this Colts team isn't all that different from the Colts team of 2014. It's still a flawed roster that will rely on great play from its young, emerging quarterback.

Unfortunately, that quarterback hasn't shown up yet in 2015.

Andrew Luck has been bad, plain and simple, through the first two weeks of the season.

Opponent	Attempts	Completions	Comp. %	Yards	Y/A	TD	INT
@Bills	49	26	53.1%	243	4.96	2	2
Jets	37	21	56.8%	250	6.76	1	3
Total	86	47	54.7%	493	5.73	3	5

Sure, there have been hints of superb play here and there, but overall, Luck has struggled mightily.

It's not just statistics, either. Luck has put up so-so stats in the past and looked good doing it, with his teammates failing him too often to really put up elite numbers (until last season anyway).

This is Luck playing poorly, and the results are showing on the field.

Don't get me wrong, Luck isn't the only problem here. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive.

As mentioned previously, the Colts have plenty of issues across the entire team, and you could probably point to a lack of leadership (both from a coaching and general manager standpoint) as the source of the train wreck. But even still, the Colts are 2-0 today if Luck is playing well.

This team has pulled off those type of wins before when Luck's excelled, and the team still had chances to stay in each of the last two losses.

Over the last three seasons, people have propped Luck up as a prodigy primed to entire the NFL's elite precisely because he's been able to play well despite having an extremely weak supporting cast. Over the last two weeks, he hasn't played like that.

Part of it is chemistry that is completely lacking from the group, as Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star explained:

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There is presently no chemistry in the Colts’ offense. Perhaps some of that can be attributed to a lack of history together, with so many parts of this offense pieced together during the just-completed offseason. But the execution is startlingly poor. Look at quarterback Andrew Luck’s first two throws to first-round pick Phillip Dorsett, for example. The first, down the seams, was thrown over Dorsett’s left shoulder while he was looking over his right. The next attempt to Dorsett, in the third quarter, wasn’t even in the same ZIPcode, leading to an easy interception for Darrelle Revis.

The level of sloppiness is not suggestive of a team with high postseason aspirations. In fact, it is not suggestive of a team with aspirations of a winning season.

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But Luck's job as the franchise quarterback is to instill that chemistry and timing in the offense. Even with coaches that are struggling to come up with a game plan, receivers who are inconsistent and a below-average offensive line, this isn't the Luck we've grown accustomed to seeing.

The Colts roster is full of holes, the coaches have glaring weaknesses and the offensive line can be messy, but this team still is one that can make a deep postseason run.

But only if Luck is playing at a high level.

Until we start seeing that again, the Colts won't even be in the playoff conversation.