Tight end Dwayne Allen explained to NFL.com's Kimberly Jones this week that Andrew Luck has earned the nickname "Meal Ticket" because "if he doesn't perform, nobody eats."
After a week of training camp, it appears the Indianapolis Colts have no worries on that front.
Jones: The Colts' 'meal ticket'
Ultimately, the Colts will only go as far as Andrew Luck can take them -- and they know it. Kimberly Jones reports. **More ...**
"Right when you see a throw you think you might never see again, five or 10 plays later, you see another 'wow' play," coach Chuck Pagano explained to Jones. "He's just loaded with them."
No NFL quarterback attempted more passes of 20-plus yards than Luck last season. Observers and teammates alike wonder how Luck will fare under new coordinator Pep Hamilton and his so-called "No Coast" offense after excelling in Bruce Arians' vertical attack as a rookie.
"I asked Andrew what he thought (of Hamilton)," Reggie Wayne said.
Luck, who played under Hamilton at Stanford, quickly responded: "We got the right guy." The two work together so closely that it's Luck who often corrects Hamilton on matters of playbook and execution.
Their "No Coast" offense is loaded with playmakers. To go with Wayne and future Pro Bowl H-back Allen, Darrius Heyward-Bey has been added as a playmaker to get behind coverage.
Tight end Coby Fleener is having the most productive camp Hamilton has seen going back to their days together at Stanford.
It's speedy second-year pro T.Y. Hilton who continues to steal the show, however.
"That guy's a freak," coach Chuck Pagano said Tuesday of Hilton, via the Tribune-Star. "I'd hate to be the guy on the opposite side of the ball. ... He just keeps growing and growing and growing."
The Colts were the first team in league history to win 11 or more games while having a negative point differential. They also played the NFL's easiest schedule and went an aberrant 9-1 in games decided by one touchdown or less.
All of those outliers are unrepeatable. There will be growing pains with this young offense. What's already evident, though, is that this unit has the potential to be one of the highest-scoring ones in the NFL for the next half-decade.
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