During last Saturday’s victory over the Ravens, the Patriots made life difficult on the Baltimore defense at times by lining up with running back Shane Vereen as an ineligible receiver.
For this week’s AFC title clash with the Colts, the Patriots will be the ones worrying about a sixth receiver on the field. That was how coach Bill Belichick described Colts quarterback Andrew Luck on Tuesday when he was asked about Luck’s ability to extend and make plays with his legs.
“He’s like a sixth receiver you have to cover. He can run, but again, if he extends the play then he has the ability to create big plays,” Belichick said during a conference call. “We’ve seen him do that multiple times throughout his career already. The play he made against Denver where he kept the ball on about the nine, 10-yard line in the red area and ran it in for an easy touchdown – it was called back, but it was an easy touchdown. It’s another guy you have to defend in the running game, the passing game in terms of his ability to scramble and make first-down yardage on possession-type downs. And he makes good decisions, so all those things are a problem: having to cover receivers longer and having to deal with his ability to run for yardage.”
Belichick compared Luck to Ben Roethlisberger in terms of being big and strong enough to break free of tackles while trying to make a play, although he noted that Luck is “a lot faster” than the Steelers quarterback. Putting those abilities alongside a big arm and total command of the offense is a big reason why Luck has been able to lead the Colts deeper into the playoffs in each of his first three seasons and they are the biggest reasons to think that this year’s run could continue despite New England’s perceived advantages elsewhere in the matchup.