Felger & Mazz: Andrew Luck Not Yet Ready To Receive The Torch
BOSTON (CBS) - It's Andrew Luck week here in New England as the Patriots prepare to take on the Colts on the road on Sunday Night Football, in what could end up being a major shootout and turning point in the landscape of the AFC.
In just his third year, Andrew Luck is playing beyond his years and is even leading multiple passing categories. Some even consider him a top candidate to win the Most Valuable Player award.
The Tom Brady-Andrew Luck matchup will get played up and hyped to the max this week leading up to kickoff, and that is something that some members of 98.5 The Sports Hub's Felger & Massarotti program feel is undeserved.
Andrew Luck is a very good NFL quarterback, but he's not yet in that elite category.
But he's still not ready to take the torch from Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, and for that reason Tony Massarotti feels like the hype is unwarranted.
"To me, at this point [Luck] is not a truly viable threat to the Patriots. Not yet," said Mazz. "Until he beats them I can't take him seriously. The Colts are favored but they're gonna lose. If we had talked about this game a month and a half ago the storyline would have been, 'The torch is being passed.' Right? 'The Patriots are reeling, the Colts are ready to ascend.' But since that time I feel like the Patriots have sort of reasserted themselves in the conference. It's not a changing of the guard quite yet, but I do recognize that it's coming. You'd be stupid to not know that it's coming."
Marc Bertrand is in agreement with Tony Mazz.
"You overrate Luck and he is the heir apparent," Marc Bertrand said speaking directly to Mike Felger. "It's both. You overrate where he's at right now in terms of where he ranks among the league's quarterbacks. He's not at the top, but he's going to be there soon. He makes a lot of mistakes, he turns the ball over a lot; but that will get better. He will be the best quarterback in the NFL, but I don't think he's there yet. Three or four years."
Luck's mistakes that Beetle previously mentioned have been well documented on Felger & Mazz.
Mike Felger acknowledges that, but also thinks the talent around him isn't great.
"He's an example around the league that the quarterback means everything. The Colts would be nothing without him. They'd be 4-12 without him. Honestly. I think he's surrounded by some talent, but not a lot," said Felger. "Nobody that's great. Reggie Wayne is on the back-nine. T.Y. Hilton is a fine player drafted out of the third round. He's 5-foot-9. He ain't exactly Calvin Johnson out there. I think Coby Fleener sucks. I think his other tight end is okay. His offensive line is meh. They had nothing that made them competitive until he got there. The Colts right now are nowhere near those Peyton Manning Colts teams. Nowhere close."
Two of the Patriots losses this season have come on the road, and they'll play Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium where Andrew Luck is 16-4 in his career.
Listen below for the full segment and discussion!
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