Gregg Doyel

gregg.doyel@indystar.com

Chargers at Colts, 4:25 p.m. Sunday, CBS

DENVER – This loss was going to happen, but not like this. Not with the Indianapolis Colts’ decimated defense playing well and their offensive line playing well enough and their feel-good coach walking into his postgame news conference and dropping the hammer on one player. This was Chuck Pagano finally speaking the truth, finally coming as close as he ever has or ever will to pinning a loss on one player.

But when that player is quarterback Andrew Luck, and he plays as poorly as he did in this 34-20 loss Sunday to the Denver Broncos, well, what can Pagano do? Hide from it? Pretend it didn’t happen? Over and over he chipped away at Luck’s mistakes until the end of his uncharacteristically honest appraisal, when I asked him about Luck’s accuracy issues. This is what Pagano said:

“I think we all saw the same thing.”

And we did. Well, most of us did. But here’s where this strange day gets even stranger.

Luck didn’t see it like that.

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Not exactly. Luck didn’t think he played well, don’t misunderstand, but he wasn’t willing to shoulder all the blame for his poor performance. And this was exceptionally poor. He wasn’t good for three quarters – he was 10-of-26 at one point – and in the fourth quarter he completely self-destructed. He threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, then lost a fumble that was returned for another touchdown.

“You can’t turn the ball over,” Pagano said. “You can’t have a pick-six and strip fumbles returned for touchdowns. It’s too hard to overcome.”

Overall Luck was 21-of-40 for 197 yards, one touchdown and two turnovers. His quarterback rating was 64.3, well below his career rating of 85.7. He didn’t think he was good. Believe that. Asked right away how he played, Luck told the truth:

“Not good enough to win, obviously,” he said. “Need to be sharper to beat a team like that.”

But as the questioning continued, Luck started deflecting some blame. That’s how it sounded to me, anyway. I’ll show you what he said here in a minute. You decide. But first, here’s what Luck said last week after the Colts’ 39-35 loss to Detroit, after throwing for 385 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions in one of the finest games of his career:

“Disappointed in myself for being part of a slow start,” he said, which was vintage Luck.

After this loss, vintage Luck was replaced by a Luck who sounded disappointed in his receivers. For starters, that pick-six early in the fourth quarter when he tried to hit Phillip Dorsett downfield. Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib stepped in front of the pass at the 46 and weaved his way down the sideline for a touchdown that gave Denver a 23-13 lead.

“He made a good play,” Luck said of Talib. “He obviously got to the ball before our guy did.”

Luck was accurate to his running backs and tight ends – 14-of-18 for 110 yards – but he wasn’t on the same page with his three receivers. He completed just 6-of-19 passes to Dorsett, T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief.

Asked about the difficulties making plays downfield, Luck suggested two issues:

“Guys winning their matchups, and also schemes,” he said. “You know, trying to make sure we have help on certain plays.”

Guys winning their matchups …

Schematic breakdowns will happen against the Broncos. They have the biggest game-wrecker in the NFL, outside linebacker Von Miller, along with Pro Bowler DeMarcus Ware. That duo combined for 3½ sacks and hit Luck four times overall, including one play where they held a staff meeting at Luck’s sternum.

But guys winning their matchups downfield? That’s uncharacteristic of Andrew Luck to suggest the problem was anything but Andrew Luck.

This whole day was odd. A Colts defense that gave up 37 points at home to the Lions – Detroit also scored on a safety – surrendered barely half that on the road to the Broncos. Denver’s offense scored 19 points overall, and just one touchdown.

Denver’s defense scored two TDs, both on plays that began with the ball in Luck’s hands and ended with the Broncos defense celebrating in the end zone. The second one, the strip-fumble, can’t be blamed entirely on Luck. Von Miller did what Von Miller does, beating right tackle Joe Reitz and separating the ball from Luck. Linebacker Shane Ray returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.

But the first one, the pick-six to Talib? Pagano was clear where that play went wrong.

“I know Andrew would love to have it back,” Pagano said. “We’d all love to have it back, but you have to take care of the ball in that situation.”

Pagano never mentioned the receiver on the play, Dorsett. Never suggested, as Luck had, that it was a catchable pass until Talib “got to the ball before our guy did.”

But let’s not let Dorsett off the hook, either. Recall Luck’s struggles with his top three receivers. That can’t be all Luck. He threw 11 passes to Hilton and completed four. He threw five passes to Dorsett and completed one. Before Moncrief left with an injury, Luck threw three passes his way; Moncrief caught one.

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For Hilton, this continued his trend of struggling against elite defenses. The Patriots routinely stymie him. The Broncos have three super corners in Talib, Chris Harris and Bradley Roby. Nobody’s saying it’s easy.

But has anyone seen a No. 1 receiver disappear as often as T.Y. Hilton?

That’s the bottom line from this game. The Colts weren’t supposed to drag their decimated defense and beleaguered offensive line into Denver and beat the defending Super Bowl champions. But “the defense hung in there,” as Pagano was saying afterward, and the offensive line “did a good job at some parts of that game giving the quarterback time.”

This game was winnable, but the quarterback wasn’t good enough and the receivers weren’t good enough. You have to think this won’t happen again. The Colts won’t face another defense this good, not unless they get to the playoffs and see Denver again.

But the Colts are 0-2. The playoffs are a long way off, and getting longer by the week.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at@GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.

Chargers at Colts, 4:25 p.m. Sunday, CBS