Andrew Luck must do everything for disastrous Colts and sown by injuries

Over a five-day period, Andrew Luck sent 121 passes for the Colts for 827 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. This is the second-highest number of two-game hitting attempts, behind Philip Rivers' 123-goal pass in two games in October 2015.

For Rivers, it did not matter. The Chargers lost both games in a season that was 4-12. So maybe Rivers is the only person who really knows the pain of luck – the prolific figures of the Colts quarterback do not matter.

Indianapolis also lost both games, including a 38-24 loss to the New England Patriots on Thursday night, which brought the Colts down to 1-4.

If you ask a quarterback to throw more than 50 times in consecutive weeks, it probably means that things are not going well. In each of the past two weeks, Luck has been asked to do a lot because the Colts have fallen behind and caught up.

At halftime on Thursday, there were 24-3 Patriots and even three Luck touchdowns in the second half were not enough to take the Colts out of their hole. That made him think of the loss to the Texans in Colts' Week 4, when Luck had three touchdowns in the second half to go from a 28-10 deficit to an overtime loss.

At this point, it's hard not to worry about luck, which comes from a failed year after an injury to a team that just leaves him no chance:

Can a Colts receiver play?

With T.Y. Hilton, hamstring and chest injury, Eric Ebron was Luck's most reliable target against the Patriots. The former Lions first-round pick ended with nine receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns, but he even made a ridiculously bad fall.

While Ebron was returning for a good night's sleep, the drops became a nighttime theme for the Colts. There was Chester Rogers who dropped that magnificent pass that should have been a big win:

And the second interception of the day against Luck was only held because Zach Pascal lobbed him in the arms of Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones:

By the end of the night, the Colts had made seven passes on Luck's 59 attempts. A week ago, five Luck's passes were dropped, or 12 drops in five days. This is an incredible amount considering that Indianapolis finished the 2017 season with 31 declines and the Giants led the league with 45.

There is a serious lack of reliable reception options for Luck and Hilton can not come back soon enough. But the team's No. 1 receiver is only on a ridiculously long list of colts battling injuries in 2018:

Colts are running out of healthy players at an alarming rate

Each team deals with injuries, but my God, the Colts are falling apart.

They started Week 5 with nine players on the injured reserve, seven players out for Thursday due to an injury and six questionable players. They are so excited that two of the six dubious group members have been declared active against the Patriots, but do not dress because the Colts do not even have 46 healthy players to work with.

Missing Leonard is particularly expensive because the linebacker has played as a candidate for the defensive rookie of the year in 2018. Marlon Mack is also out there. The halfback that was to replace Frank Gore was missing since the week. 2 with foot and hamstring injuries.

Then, in a way, the situation got worse on Thursday:

The Indianapolis defense has been torn more severely than the injury offensive, but that's still a bad thing for Luck. The Patriots scoured the field with an average of 38 points and 6.5 yards per game, forcing the Colts' quarterback to keep pedaling for 60 minutes.

The health of luck is also a concern. After missing all of 2017 due to a disastrously managed shoulder injury, every stroke made by luck in 2018 is considered proof that his arm is either very thin, or a fraction of what it was. Running 121 live passes over a five-day period is probably not a good thing.

On the bright side of things, it's that the Colts have gone through the part of the season that has had tough clashes against the Bengals, Eagles and Patriots. They will have 10 days to recover before completing October with games against the Jets, Bills and Raiders. Each of the next three contenders has only one victory to win over a four-week period, and once past that stage, the Colts will be off to the 9th week.

Luck is in full swing with 784 pass attempts in 2018 – 57 more than Matthew Stafford's record one season – and the few teammates in good health he did not help much. They will have a chance to bounce back in the next few weeks, but for now, everything is going badly for Luck and the Colts.