The Colts need 23-year old QB Andrew Luck to step up the last couple of weeks of the regular season against the Chiefs in K.C. this weekend and at home next weekend in a re-match with the Texans.  The Colts are 2-1 so far in December and they have scored 79 points in those games, but Andrew Luck has not played that well.  He has completed only 53 of 115 passes (46.1%) for 773 yards with 7 TD passes and 5 INTs so far this month.  He has also carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards (5.0 ypc) so far in December.  The Colts need him to be more accurate the last two weeks of the regular season.  Luck has now played in 14 games so far this year and he has completed 308 of 564 passes (54.6%) for 3,978 yards with 20 TD passes and 18 INTs (75.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 51 times for 233 yards (4.6 ypc) with 5 TD runs so far this year.

23-year old rookie QB Andrew Luck needs to forget all about last weekend’s debacle in New England.  The Colts are still 2-1 in November so far and they have scored 74 points this month.  Luck has completed 75 of 124 (60.5%) passes in November so far, good for 994 yards with 4 TD passes and 4 INTs.  He has also carried the ball 9 times for 20 yards (2.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far this month.  Luck has now played in 10 games overall this year for the Colts and he has completed 235 of 412 passes (57%) for 2,965 yards with 12 TD passes and 12 INTs (77.2 QB Rating).  Luck has also carried the ball 35 times for 163 yards (4.7 ypc) with 5 TD runs so far this year.  The Colts are only going to get to the playoffs if Luck can lead them there.

24-year old CB Vontae Davis is out for this weekend’s game against the Patriots due to a knee injury.  Davis has played in 5 games for the Colts so far this year and he has 19 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  25-year old Cassius Vaughn will take over as one of the starting CBs for the Colts this weekend.  He has played in 9 games for the Colts so far this year and he has 27 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  The Colts will be without both of their starting CBs this weekend (Vontae Davis and Jerraud Powers), so the defense could be in big time trouble against Tom Brady and his receivers on the Patriots this Sunday.

The Colts have placed 25-year old CB Jerraud Powers on Injured Reserve due to a toe injury, ending his 2012 season.  Powers played in 8 games for the Colts this year and he had 40 tackles, 1 interception, 8 passes defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.  He has now played in 42 games in his first four years with the Colts and he has 210 tackles, 33 passes defensed, 6 interceptions (one returned for a TD), 11 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.  26-year old Darius Butler will take over for Powers in the starting lineup.  He has played in 4 games for the Colts so far this year and he has 11 tackles, 3 passes defensed, 2 interceptions (one returned for a TD) and 1 fumble recovery.  The Colts better hope that Butler is up for the challenge.

The Colts will be without 25-year old RB Donald Brown for the next 2-3 weeks after undergoing knee surgery this week.  He has played in 4 games for the Colts so far this year and he has carried the ball 60 times for 239 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Brown has also caught 3 passes for 47 yards (15.7 avg) so far this year.  22-year old rookie Vick Ballard will move into the starting lineup to replace Brown while he is out of action.  Ballard has played in 4 games for the Colts so far this year and he has carried the ball 21 times for 42 yards (2.0 ypc).  He has also caught 1 pass for 4 yards so far this year.

Coach Pagano will be celebrating his 51st birthday tomorrow in the hospital as he has been diagnosed with leukemia.  He went to the doctors during the bye week and that is when they found out he was sick.  This is a bad break for Pagano, as he was really getting the Colts to play decent football in his first shot as a NFL head coach.  Here’s to hoping he will have the full recovery that doctors are projecting for him.  Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians will take over as the interim head coach until Pagano is ready to return to coaching.  Arians has done a decent job with rookie Andrew Luck and the offense so far this year.  Now he will also have to concern himself with defense and special teams.

23-year old rookie QB Andrew Luck is getting a week to rest up as the Colts are on a bye this Sunday.  He has played in all 3 games for the Colts so far this year and he has completed 65 of 122 passes (53.3%) for 846 yards with 5 TD passes and 4 INTs (75.4 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 10 times for 80 yards (8.0 ypc) so far this year.  If the Colts could run the ball a little better (90.3 yards per game, 3.7 yards per carry), it would take a lot of pressure off of Luck.  That being said, I have been pretty impressed with Luck so far this year.

The Indianapolis Colts are only averaging 73.3 rushing yards per game and only 3.3 yards per carry so far this year, and that just isn’t going to get the job done.  They have thrown the ball 76 times (62.8%) of the time out of their 121 offensive plays so far this year.  The Colts have been playing from behind quite a bit which has let to the play calling split offensively.  But, they need more out of 25-year old starting RB Donald Brown.  Brown has played in both games for the Colts so far this year and he has carried the ball 25 times for 93 yards (3.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  If Brown is ever going to truly breakout for the Colts this year, this is the Sunday to do it as the visiting Jaguars are giving up 169.5 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year.

The Colts never have had a good backup for Peyton Manning.  Well he couldn’t play this year and it ruined the Colts’ season.  The Colts panicked and signed 39-year old Kerry Collins to take over for Manning.  He only last three games (0-3), before his season was over due to a nasty concussion.  Collins played in 3 games (all starts) for the Colts last year and he completed 48 of 98 passes (49%) for 481 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT (65.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 2 times for -1 yard (-0.5 ypc) last year.  Collins has now played in 197 games (180 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 3,487 of 6,261 passes (55.7%) for 40,922 yards with 208 TD passes and 196 INTs (73.8 QB Rating).  Collins has also carried the ball 374 times for 686 yards (1.8 ypc) with 10 TD runs so far in his career.  Collins is 81-99 (45%) as a starting QB during the regular season in his NFL career.  Collins will likely retire in the off-season and stay that way.

26-year old Curtis Painter was the next guy up.  He didn’t play too well as the Colts were 0-8 in his starts.  Painter played in 9 games (8 starts) for the Colts last year and he completed 132 of 243 passes (54.3%) for 1,541 yards with 6 TD passes and 9 INTs (66.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 107 yards (6.3 ypc) last year.  Painter has now played in 11 games (8 starts) in his career with the Colts and he has completed 140 of 271 passes (51.7%) for 1,624 yards with 6 TD passes and 11 INTs (60.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 20 times for 111 yards (5.6 ypc) so far in his NFL career.  He is nothing more than a #3 QB in the NFL.

28-year old Dan Orlovsky started the last five games for the Colts at QB and they were 2-3 (40%) in those games.  Orlovsky played in 8 games (5 starts) for the Colts last year and he completed 122 of 193 passes (63.2%) for 1,201 yards with 6 TD passes and 4 INTs (82.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 5 yards (0.8 ypc) last year.  Orlovsky has now played in 21 games (12 starts) so far in his NFL career and he has completed 272 of 465 passes (58.5%) for 2,880 yards with 14 TD passes and 12 INTs (75.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 13 times for 34 yards (2.6 ypc) so far in his career.  Orlovsky is now 2-10 (16.7%) as a starting QB in his NFL career.

28-year old QB Dan Orlovksy has been starting slowly in games and finishing strongly in the 4th quarter.  He has played in 5 games for the Colts so far this year and he has completed 61 of 95 passes (64.2%) for 611 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 INTs (84.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard so far this year.  If the Colts are going to win a game this year, they are going to need Orlovsky to play a solid game from start to finish.