Indianapolis Colts: How Curtis Painter Earned Backup QB Job for Years to Come

The Indianapolis Colts almost won their first game of the season last night.

Much like two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the long-haired backup quarterback, Curtis Painter, did just enough to keep the game close against a decent football team before ultimately falling short.

All things considered, his first career start went rather well.

He covered the spread, didn't throw an interception and gave the Colts the opportunity to at least compete for the win in the final quarter of play.

Curtis Painter did everything a backup quarterback should.

He completed less than 50 percent of his passes but threw two touchdowns. 

He was sacked four times and lost one fumble.

Again, Curtis Painter did everything a backup quarterback should do when thrust into the starting lineup.

The Colts are not that good of a football team to begin with. Everything starts with Peyton Manning, and we are seeing that everything ends with Peyton Manning as well.

They can't run the football (28th ranked rushing offense in the league), can't stop the run (28th ranked rushing defense in the league) and are hardly much better in the passing game on either side of the ball.

Plain and simple, the Indianapolis Colts are one of the league's worst teams.

This season is starting to look more and more like a wash, but at least they know they have their backup for the foreseeable future.

Painter only completed 13 passes, but he found the Colts' playmakers when it mattered. Pierre Garcon took two shorter passes to the house and accounted for nearly half of Painter's yardage total on the two plays alone.

You can't expect a backup to dominate or win you games, but you can expect the playmakers to help him out.

Garcon did just that, and Painter did just enough to keep the Colts in the game even with three damaging injuries to their offensive line.

The two-week sample size we have seen from the third-year pro signifies one thing—he's the perfect backup for this team.

He's not winning, he's not losing, but he's giving the team just enough of an opportunity to make something happen. He doesn't have the skill set to be successful for a full season, but he could be a serviceable spot-starter in a pinch should any injury ever befall a starter again.

He limits turnovers, doesn't hurt the team and isn't doing enough to warrant a shot as a starter anywhere else.

What more could you ask of a backup quarterback? Nothing.