After the first week of the season, Colts owner Jim Irsay fired up his trusty Twitter account to let his team (and anyone following him on Twitter) know that he demanded better protection of quarterback Andrew Luck over the rest of the season.
While it is generally a good idea to heed the wishes of the man signing your check, the Colts haven’t done what Irsay demanded. The team has given up the third-most quarterback hits of any team in the NFL and they are on pace to allow around the same number of sacks as they allowed last season even though the Colts have thrown the ball less often this season.
Coach Chuck Pagano didn’t hit Twitter to share his thoughts on the team’s issues keeping Luck from getting hit, but he pointed out that the end of the victory over the Texans showed the Colts were capable of doing a better job. Now they just need to do it more often.
“We have to be more consistent,” Pagano said, via the Indianapolis Star. “Toward the end of that game, when we’re making big plays, we got things blocked up. Andrew has time, he can step up and make those big plays to T.Y. [Hilton]. It’s just a matter of doing it down after down on a consistent basis.”
The Colts have done quite well over the last two seasons despite their struggles in pass blocking and injuries have made it hard for them to field a consistent lineup, but there’s not much question that things need to improve. One hit is all it can take to lose your star quarterback, as the Packers could tell you, so you’d like to see him taking as few as possible.