The line of great players who had to wait their turn to climb to the top of their sport is long and distinguished.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is precocious. The list of third-year quarterbacks who has dominated a game like Luck can is incredibly short. But he has to wait his turn.
The New England Patriots provided a hard example for Luck and the Colts on Sunday night. They still are ahead of the Colts in the AFC's pecking order. They left no doubt in a one-sided 42-20 win. The Colts might have Luck, the next superstar in the NFL, but the Patriots throw in a relative no-name like Jonas Gray to rush for four touchdowns and win. The Colts came in at 6-3, one game behind the 7-2 Patriots in the race for playoff seeding and byes, but this was no contest.
Luck did his best, but the Patriots were better in every way. The Colts still need to build a better roster around Luck, and that takes time. Really, it's surprising the Colts have won as much as they have with their deficiencies. They simply have no run game, which is just about inexcusable after they traded a first-round pick for former third overall pick Trent Richardson (the Patriots got Gray as an undrafted free agent, by the way). On a fourth and 1 against the Patriots inside the 10-yard line, the Colts threw a receiver screen to Ahmad Bradshaw, who was split wide. That says it all about the state of the Colts' running game. They don't have a great running back or an offensive line to open holes for what they have. That puts all the pressure on Luck in the offense. On Sunday night at least, Tom Brady had a night in which he didn't have to carry the Patriots. Instead, Gray carried it 38 times for 199 yards (worth mentioning again: the Colts traded a first-round pick for Richardson, who had zero yards on seven carries).
The Colts also are a mystery on defense. They've looked good at times, particularly in shutting out the Bengals earlier this season, but also gave up more than 500 yards to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and were run over by Gray. Nobody will mistake them for an elite defense, at least on a week-to-week basis.
There's a lot on Luck's shoulders. And he is absolutely tremendous. If you had to bet now, you'd bet on Luck and the Colts reaching the NFL's pinnacle someday. But this is not that day. The Patriots gave him a lesson, loud and clear: Wait your turn, kid.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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