Colts bring in Jacoby Brissett over Andrew Luck for Hail Mary attempt
The Indianapolis Colts had one last chance to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday with a Hail Mary attempt as time expired, and they did not feel that Andrew Luck was the quarterback on their roster with the best chance to make the play.
Trailing 20-16 and near midfield, the Colts needed to throw the ball into the end zone with five seconds remaining. Rather than have Luck attempt a 54-yard pass, they brought in backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
Prior to the Hail Mary attempt, Luck had thrown a series of checkdown passes to move the ball from the 11-yard line to the 46. He threw mostly underneath passes throughout the game, leading many to believe his arm strength still is not where it needs to be after he missed the entire 2017 season.
Andrew Luck does nothing but dink and dunk in the final minutes until Jacoby Brissett comes in to throw a Hail Mary. But keep telling us Andrew Luck's shoulder is fine, Colts.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) September 23, 2018
Woah, Jacoby Brissett comes in for the final play hail mary, NOT Andrew Luck. We'll be talking about that one.
— Matt Harmon (@MattHarmon_BYB) September 23, 2018
Wow, Jacoby Brissett has the strongest arm on this team. I've felt that way for a while. But I still never thought I'd see him enter the game in that situation. Odd.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 23, 2018
Brissett probably has a stronger arm than Luck even when the two QBs are at their best, but it was still noteworthy that the Colts chose to use Brissett in that situation. It was not that long ago that we heard a report about Luck’s arm strength that was not all that encouraging, so you have to wonder if he is truly at 100 percent health.