With the Colts 54 yards away from a touchdown they needed to win with five seconds left in the game, coach Frank Reich elected to remove his three-time Pro Bowl quarterback and replace him with his backup. Out trotted Andrew Luck, and in came Jacoby Brissett.
Brissett, who likely has the stronger arm after Luck spent a full year rehabbing his back in top playing shape, was tabbed to toss the Hail Mary. He almost threw it out of the back of the end zone, falling incomplete just inside the end line.
Might this cause some controversy in Indianapolis?
"No. Jacoby has a stronger arm than I do," Luck said after the game, per The Athletic's Stephen Holder. "It's sort of what I see in practice. And obviously coach Reich thinks that as well. I'll keep working on getting my arm to where maybe it can make an 80-yard throw from the minus-30 (yard line). But I have no qualms with that decision."
Now that that's settled, the question remains: Could Luck ever make that throw? And if so, will his arm ever get there?
"I don't know. I was never in a situation to go out there and do it," Luck said. "In this situation, I don't know, I'll be honest. To run around and scramble and put my foot in the ground and try to (chuck) it X amount of yards."
It's common knowledge how much the Colts value Brissett, so much that they wouldn't trade him for a first-round pick. That arm isn't the sole reason, but is part of why they like him so much. It doesn't hurt to utilize that when a game comes down to the final play, from half a field away.
