Is Andrew Luck the reason Pep Hamilton was fired by the Indianapolis Colts?
It's a deep question, with many facets and tangents.
Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel went right to the source, asking Luck, "Do you think you got him fired?"
"Part of me does, yeah," Luck replied before expounding on the offense's need to score more points.
Doyle then pressed a little harder, asking if Luck felt he specifically got Hamilton fired.
"Yeah," he said . "Can't dwell on it. Have to move on. But ... but, yeah."
Luck has been a huge disappointment this season, completing just 54.9 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The quarterback -- whether due to injury, poor blocking or mental yips -- hasn't trusted his arm or eyes this season, often throwing late or holding onto the ball in the pocket.
The quarterback bore the blame for the offensive struggles.
"I don't think the turnovers have anything to do with who the coordinator was," he said. "Turnovers fall on my shoulders and my shoulders only."
Luck's best play this season has been when his team is down by more than two touchdowns. When the Colts are trailing by 15 or more points, Luck has thrown five touchdowns and one interception, with a 112.5 passer rating. In all other situations, Luck has eight TDs and 11 INTs for a passer rating of 60.5.
A major question is how much of that garbage-time production is defenses playing lax and how much is the Colts' offense going up-tempo and mostly ditching the ground game. Given Hamilton's firing, Indy's brass seems to believe it more a function of the latter.
As with almost every decision in the NFL, the quarterback played a major part. Obviously, Luck didn't try to get Hamilton fired, but his struggles directly led to it. Luck's smart enough and self-aware enough to realize it.
Now, as the quarterback said, it's time to move on with Rob Chudzinski. Indy, at 3-5, still has a division it can win.