Colts quarterback Andrew Luck saves day -- but was it a lucky play?

By Dan Loumena

Jan. 5, 2014 7:47 AM PT

Did a lucky bounce, or play, help quarterback Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts win their first-round playoff game Saturday when they staged the second-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history?

Think again. Sometimes you make your own luck, and that was probably the case when Indianapolis wiped out a 28-point deficit to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 45-44, in a wild AFC wild-card game. Only the Buffalo Bills had mounted a bigger playoff comeback — 32 points — in a 41-38 victory over the Houston Oilers in 1993.

Luck, the second-year standout from Stanford, scored on a five-yard touchdown run after picking up a fumble by running back Donald Brown, who had dived toward the goal line with a chance to score when the ball was knocked from his grasp by Chiefs safety Eric Berry.

The ball bounced off the shoulder of Colts center Samson Satele and onto the ground in front of Luck, who was in the backfield watching the play develop. He scooped up the ball, split two Kansas City players and dived across the goal line with 10-minutes, 45-seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The touchdown and point-after cut the Chiefs’ lead to 41-38 and made it a one-possession game. Kansas City could muster one more field goal before Luck threw his fourth touchdown pass of the second half, a 64-yard bomb to T.Y. Hilton, to put Indianapolis ahead for the first time in the game with 4:29 left. Luck finished with 443 yards passing.

Here’s one statistics to think about when considering if the Colts were lucky to win: Luck leads the NFL in come-from-behind victories over the last two seasons, including the playoffs, with 11. Tied for second are Tony Romo of the Cowboys and Russell Wilson of the Seahawks at nine, while Joe Flacco of the Ravens and Matt Ryan of the Falcons at tied for fifth at eight.

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