INDIANAPOLIS -- Colts coach Chuck Pagano was released from the hospital Sunday morning just in time to watch his team from home. After several weeks of undergoing treatment for leukemia, Pagano must have been glad to see Andrew Luck and Co. beat the Cleveland Browns, 17-13.
Luck prevailed in the matchup between first-round draft picks (Browns signal-caller Brandon Weeden was picked No. 22 overall) despite taking another beating.
The Colts' shaky offensive line put Luck through a rough day. He was sacked three times, including a blind hit from Sheldon Brown that left the quarterback parallel to the ground. Luck completed 16 of 29 passes for 186 yards, but he beat the Browns with his legs. He became the third quarterback in Colts history to run for two touchdowns in a game -- after Ricky Turner in 1988 and Bert Jones in 1974. Luck's 3-yard and 5-yard touchdown runs were perfect decisions with the Colts' receivers well covered on the plays.
Weeden threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns, but he couldn't complete a comeback for the Browns. He was accurate against a porous Colts secondary and threw a perfect ball to Josh Gordon that would have been a go-ahead, 41-yard score in the fourth quarter. But Gordon dropped it in the end zone.
"No excuses at all," Gordon said.
That came after Weeden threw a beautiful 14-yard touchdown to Greg Little in the second quarter, high along the back line of the end zone, where only the receiver had a play.
The Colts had their most balanced game of the season with a season-high 148 rushing yards and a season-low 29 passes by Luck. Rookie Vick Ballard ran with force while Donald Brown sat with a knee injury.
The Browns had to rely on Weeden as a rib injury kept running back Trent Richardson sidelined in the second half.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
