Colts, Chiefs’ next opponent, have carried on with Jacoby Brissett at QB
No team faced a greater change of direction entering the season than the Indianapolis Colts. The late August announcement of Andrew Luck’s retirement thrust Jacoby Brissett into the starting quarterback role, and the transition has been smoother than what might have been anticipated.
Brissett has 10 touchdown passes, matching Patrick Mahomes and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson for the NFL lead heading into the Monday Night Football game. Brissett ranks among the NFL’s top 10 in passer rating and has thrown only two interceptions.
The Colts visit the unbeaten Chiefs on Sunday Night Football this week.
Brissett started 15 games in 2017, so it wasn’t as though the Colts were getting a novice. Still, Luck had taken the Colts to their first playoff appearance since 2014 last season, when they fell to the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium, and were a popular choice to win the AFC South.
Those projections were downgraded after the change, but the Colts got off to a 2-1 start with Jacoby playing well. They lost a chance to pull ahead in the division with a 31-24 home loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, leaving all four division teams at 2-2. The Colts in the thick of things doesn’t surprise Andy Reid.
“They’ve got good leadership, in the front office with Chris (Ballard) and Frank (Reich) the head coach,” Reid said. “They have a quarterback there that’s a good player that they trust. They were able to overcome the shock or whatever of losing a big-time player.
“Andrew (Luck) is a phenomenal player with a good attitude, I’m not going to slight him a bit. It took a lot of courage to do what he did, in a lot of areas. So, I would just tell you to overcome that you need to have good leadership and they have that.”
Ballard, the former Chiefs’ director of football operations, expected the Colts to stay on course.
“I know this about Jacoby, he will not flinch,” Ballard said before the season.
The details
Who: Chiefs (4-0) vs. Colts (2-2)
Kickoff: 7:20 p.m. Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium
TV/radio: NBC (Ch. 41), KCFX (101.1 FM)
Line: Chiefs by 10 1/2