Matt Hasselbeck Turns Back the Clock, Buys Colts More Time in AFC South

At some point in the next six months or so, the Indianapolis Colts will sign quarterback Andrew Luck to a contract that will likely rank among the largest in NFL history. That's hardly surprising. After all, Luck entered 2015 as a leading candidate to be the NFL MVP.

What's surprising is that this season at least, Luck hasn't even been the best quarterback on his own team. And the Indianapolis Colts' MVP this year—the player keeping the team in the playoff hunt—was drafted into the NFL when Luck was still in elementary school.

With Luck sidelined by injuries for a couple of stretches this season, veteran Matt Hasselbeck has been pressed into service for four starts (so far) this season. It was Hasselbeck who took the field for the Colts Sunday against a surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad.

And as Kevin Bowen of the team's website tweeted, just as has in each of his starts this season, it was Hasselbeck who led the Colts to a 25-12 victory that helped Indianapolis keep pace with the Houston Texans in the AFC South:

So what, you may ask. Is it that big of a deal that Hasselbeck is 4-0 as the Colts' starter? After all, Hasselbeck is a three-time Pro Bowler. He quarterbacked the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl berth.

Of course, that was in 2005. Because you see, Hasselbeck is kind of old:

OK, in football terms, he's really old.

And it wasn't like Hasselbeck played the role of game manager Sunday. With the Indy ground game once again missing in action, it was left to Hasselbeck's arm to carry the Indy offense.

As Gregg Doyel of The Indy Star reported, carry it he did:

Those numbers included a ruthlessly efficient second half for the 17th-year veteran:

Yes, that's right. Seventeen years in the NFL and still throwing up 300-yard games.

It also continued a trend that has occurred since Hasselbeck first took the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars back in Week 4.

Put simply, Hasselbeck has outplayed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft—the future of the franchise—and it really hasn't been that close.

Player	Starts	C%	PYPG	TD	INT	QBR	Rating	Record
Luck	7	55.3	269.8	15	12	47.57	74.9	2-5
Hasselbeck	4	64.7	255.8	7	2	70.66*	91.9*	4-0

Yes, Luck has thrown for more yards per game. He's also thrown more touchdown passes. However, Luck's touchdown-to-interception ratio, passer rating and QBR are all much worse than Hasselbeck's.

And then there's the only number that matters: 4-0 vs. 2-5.

You can make the statement (with a straight face, no less) that the Colts wouldn't be in first place in their division had their preseason-MVP-candidate signal-caller started every game.

That led the NFL Network's Deion Sanders to posit an interesting question:

There is, of course, no quarterback controversy in Indy. As soon as Luck's lacerated kidney and torn abdominal muscle heals, he'll be back under center. And Hasselbeck has had help. Sunday that help came in the form of a beleaguered Colts defense that stiffened and held the Buccaneers scoreless in the second half.

Nor does Hasselbeck's Lazarus act magically fix all that ails the Colts. As ESPN's Mike Wells reported, given Indy's "success" running the ball against Tampa, the pressure on Hasselbeck isn't going to lessen any down the stretch:

"

Remember when Frank Gore supplied the Colts with somewhat of running game? Gore followed up his 34-yard performance against Atlanta in Week 11 by rushing for only 24 yards on 19 carries against the Bucs. The frustration was obvious from Gore, who slapped the ball to the ground after several rushes where he didn’t pick up any yardage.

"

Still, just as he has in every start this year, Hasselbeck did enough to get his team the win. And as tight end Coby Fleener told The Indy Star's Stephen Holder, the Indianapolis locker room is all-in on Hasselbeck's ability to lead the team:

"

If you look around the locker room and say, 'What do I want to be someday,' you look at a guy like Matt. You look at him and say, 'That's what I want.' You look at his family, and you say, 'That's what I want in my marriage.' And you dig deeper and then kind of ask why does it look the way it does? Well, you point to his faith and his grounding in Christianity, and from there it branches out to everything else.

"

The irony of the situation is this: By playing well Hasselbeck is playing himself out of playing at all. Had the Colts fallen apart, Luck likely would have landed on IR and Hasselbeck could have played out the string.

But apparently Hasselbeck isn't having that. He prefers his last hurrahs shorter with more winning. Quality over quantity.

And with every start in which Hasselbeck turns back the clock and gets the team a win, he's buying the Colts more time to right the ship and make the deep playoff run so many expected in 2015.

The team should count itself Luck-y to have him.

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