He led what looked to be a game-winning drive, only to have Prater miss the extra point and then be asked to lead the Lions down 1 with 37 seconds left. This game was just as advertised: Two high-powered offenses squaring off to exploit the other’s weaknesses on defense.
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“We typically practice that situation with no timeouts”, Caldwell said.
“The slow start, again, we have to find a way to get that fixed”. Can the Lions get off to a hot start? “Playing Monday morning quarterback, you say, “Why didn’t they just run the clock out and score with three seconds left, two seconds left?’ ” Luck said”.
In the end, Indianapolis lost its opener for the fourth time in five seasons under Pagano. Every week, and every season, it has been the same pattern with this team and this is exactly why fans were confused with the moves to retain the coach and GM.
Somehow, Luck almost rallied the Colts from an 18-point deficit to another last-minute victory when he threw a 6-yard TD pass to Jack Doyle with 37 seconds to go. That left Detroit with all three timeouts for the final offensive possession.
We saw past year just how important Andrew Luck truly was to the Colts.
“Very doable, very doable”, Abdulah said. Luck had no turnovers, a 119.5 rating and while he did take some hits, he also found a way to avoid more hits. We also have to play the game as well. The defensive side of the ball has always been a problem, and so Indianapolis will be hoping for a much better 2016 season. “It’s hard to win in the National Football League, it really is, and when you go down 21-3 to a team, it’s that much harder”. This isn’t the only time it has been a problem, but it is the first that it indirectly cost the Colts a game. The question will be which combination provides solid run defense with the ability to handle the short passing game. When he played, he hardly looked like himself, and when he didn’t, Matt Hasselbeck’s performances were solid for a backup, but not enough to get the job done for a team with playoff expectations. The defense blamed itself for the failure to finish the game.
LIONS’ OPTIONS: Even without retired receiver Calvin Johnson, the Lions have plenty of options for Stafford to work with. It rekindled memories of the winning TD pass he threw at Detroit four years ago.
Walker said he expects to be up around 4.5 yards per carry this year, a number both Abdullah (5.3 ypc) and Riddick (6.4 ypc) topped as the Lions totaled 116 yards rushing Sunday. That’s encouraging with Megatron no longer around.
After watching the back-and-forth, high-octane nature of the game, you couldn’t help feeling that Luck may have left a little too much time on the clock for Matthew Stafford. The end result was that Caldwell got another shot at being a head coach, as he was hired by Detroit in January 2014. Adam Vinatieri’s extra point gave the Colts a 35-34 lead. Will Stafford take advantage of a paper-thin Colts secondary? He finished the preseason 21-of-26 for 201 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Indianapolis was called for an illegal forward pass in the end zone on the kickoff pushing the final margin to four points.
Three of Luck’s four toucdown passes went to tight ends, with one to Allen and two to Doyle – an Indianapolis native. Indianapolis rushed for 82 yards as a team, led by Frank Gore’s 59 yards in 14 carries.
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“Yeah, exhausted of talking about slow starts and exhausted of being a part of slow starts”, Luck said, the disappointment showing on his face.
