A late groped spoils Andrew Luck's impressive comeback as the Colts lose

INDIANAPOLIS – Andrew Luck is back, but it is too early to say that his return is back.

Luck was 15 yards to score the 18th win of his career when Jack Doyle, the tight end of the Indianapolis Colts, missed 46 seconds in his 34-23 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The loss took off when everyone had been waiting for 20 months.

The throws made during the minicamp, the shots and the hard knocks that Luck took during the pre-season were only an appetizer. This was the way Luck could make all the necessary shots while facing the pressure throughout the match for the first time in 616 days – not just a handful of playoffs in the pre-season.

Luck flew off an interception in his first pass to go from 39 to 52 for 319 yards and two touchdowns.

The Colts entered the game at a disadvantage because they could not attack Anthony Castonzo, Luck's face-down protection officer. Colts coach Frank Reich has not called a lot of games on the field. The biggest match of luck was a 26-yard touchdown on Eric Ebron's back in the first period. This was Luck's first touchdown since the last minute of their Jacksonville Jaguars victory on January 1, 2017. Luck was only thrown twice, but he had a lot of pressure on his face.

Luck and the Colts said the quarterback needed to do a better job by avoiding unnecessary blows to help him extend his career. The luck of the competition did not hear about it when he started to try to get a first time in the first period. Luck took first place, but was also hit by the Bengal helmet thanks to Bengals safety Shawn Williams. Luck gave a thumbs up when he got up and Williams was ejected for the shot.

Reich's philosophy on the attack is not to be predictable. And that's what they followed up, while Luck managed passes to nine different players, including seven receiving receptions from at least 11 yards.

It looks like Luck is about to finish a long recovery that would have missed the entire 2017 season when the Colts started their 25-yard run and lost 4 points with 3 minutes and 57 seconds of play. Luck completed nine assists when Doyle failed and Bengals goalkeeper Clayton Fejedelem recovered and returned to 85 yards for the touchdown.