INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck knows life in the NFL can’t be this easy for a rookie.
INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck knows life in the NFL can’t be this easy for a rookie.
The No. 1 overall draft pick threw his first NFL pass for a long touchdown, just like Peyton Manning in 1998, then led Indianapolis to two more touchdowns. Luck one-upped his predecessor by winning Sunday’s preseason opener 38-3 over St. Louis — Indy’s first preseason-opening win since 1994.
Luck might have the toughest job in football this season — replacing Manning, the longtime face of Indy’s franchise.
But he showed everyone Sunday that he can do whatever is asked.
Colts coaches wanted to keep him upright, and though Luck hit the ground twice, he was not sacked.
They wanted him to show his command of the offense, and in less than one half, Luck seemed to have Manning’s playbook down pat, from the perfect baseball slide to rushing his team to the line of scrimmage so the Rams couldn’t challenge a catch on the sideline.
The rookie quarterback wound up 10 of 16 for 188 yards with two TD passes and a quarterback rating of 142.6. Three of the incompletions were drops, two were throwaways, and only one pass, the deep out that rookie T.Y. Hilton barely caught on the sideline, came close to being picked off.
Colts 38, Rams 3
St. Louis 0 3 0 0 — 3
Indianapolis 7 14 7 10 — 38
First quarter
Ind—D.Brown 63 pass from Luck (Vinatieri kick), 9:22.
Second quarter
Ind—Collie 23 pass from Luck (Vinatieri kick), 11:18.
StL—FG Zuerlein 37, 7:18.
Ind—Carter 1 run (Vinatieri kick), 3:10.
Third quarter
Ind—Evans 1 run (Vinatieri kick), :07.
Fourth quarter
Ind—Ross 33 pass from Harnish (McAfee kick), 11:14.
Ind—FG McAfee 31, 4:44.
A—64,133.
StL Ind
First downs 15 23
Total Net Yards 215 430
Rushes-yards 24-68 32-116
Passing 147 314
Punt Returns 0-0 1-6
Kickoff Returns 5-117 1-21
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-31
Comp-Att-Int 23-33-1 21-30-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 2-12 1-9
Punts 4-45.8 2-43.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 4-20 3-69
Time of Possession 30:06 29:54
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—St. Louis, Pead 10-33, Jackson 4-17, Middleton 3-10, D.Richardson 4-4, Davis 1-2, Mughelli 1-2, Bradford 1-0. Indianapolis, Ballard 6-28, Evans 8-25, Carter 5-17, Karim 4-14, Hilton 1-9, Luck 1-9, Stanton 1-6, Moore 2-4, Jones 1-3, D.Brown 2-2, Harnish 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—St. Louis, Davis 12-18-1-84, Bradford 7-9-0-57, Clemens 4-6-0-18. Indianapolis, Luck 10-16-0-188, Stanton 8-11-0-83, Harnish 3-3-0-52.
RECEIVING—St. Louis, Pettis 3-25, Pead 3-9, Campbell 2-18, Kendricks 2-18, St.Smith 2-14, N.Johnson 2-12, D.Richardson 2-8, Givens 1-13, Middleton 1-12, Quick 1-9, Peterson 1-8, Amendola 1-6, Jackson 1-6, Salas 1-1. Indianapolis, Collie 3-45, Cosby 3-44, Brazill 3-38, Hilton 3-25, D.Brown 1-63, Ross 1-33, Jones 1-22, Ballard 1-11, Karim 1-10, Adams 1-9, Miller 1-9, Moore 1-9, Fleener 1-5.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.