Vin+ 3,121 Posted September 7, 2013 While the Indianapolis Colts are banking on second-year quarterback Andrew Luck to help lead them back to the playoffs, the Oakland Raiders still won't say who they'll have under center to start the season. Luck and the Colts look to open the season with a seventh consecutive home victory Sunday when they host a Raiders team desperately trying to record their first winning record in 11 years. Coming off a 2-14 season and saddled with trying to replace Peyton Manning, Indianapolis handed the ball to No. 1 overall pick Luck - who promptly led the team to a historic turnaround in 2012. Though he completed 54.1 percent of his passes and threw 18 interceptions compared to 23 touchdowns, Luck set NFL rookie records for yards passing (4,374), attempts (627), 300-yard games (six) and fourth-quarter comebacks (seven). More importantly for the Colts, they won nine more games and reached the playoffs. That .563 single-season improvement in winning percentage is tied for third-best since 1980, and they hope the rise continues this season. "There's nobody in there that's relaxing,'' said coach Chuck Pagano, who missed most of last year while receiving treatment for leukemia. "I think everybody, because of the acquisitions, because of the free agents, because of the draft, those types of things, our roster is in a much better place than it was at any time last year.'' Luck was sacked 41 times in 2012, so Indianapolis added linemen Gosder Cherilus and Donald Thomas through free agency and drafted Hugh Thornton and Khaled Holmes. With Bruce Arians now in Arizona, Luck's college offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton took over and installed a power running game featuring Vick Ballard, former Giant Ahmad Bradshaw and more two tight-end sets. The Colts have not produced a 1,000-yard rusher since Joseph Addai in 2007. Veteran Reggie Wayne, who caught 106 passes for 1,355 yards in 2012, and second-year speedster T.Y. Hilton lead a receiving corps that hopes to get more out of underachieving former Raider Darrius Heyward-Bey. Luck feels more relaxed despite playing for his second offensive coordinator in as many seasons. "A little bit, just by virtue of having played in an NFL game before,'' he said. "Knowing what pregame is like, knowing who runs out of the tunnel and where, things of that nature. Again, it's still very exciting.'' Pagano knows he's fortunate not to have to worry about the quarterback position heading into this season. "We're in an ideal situation. I know some aren't,'' he said. Pagano need only look across the field Sunday at Raiders coach Dennis Allen, who has yet to announce whether career backup Matt Flynn or little-used Terrelle Pryor will start. Reports, though, indicate that Pryor will get the nod after Oakland's offense scored 32 points on 14 drives with him at the helm and 10 on 13 with Flynn this preseason. Pryor did face mostly reserves. Flynn appears healthy after missing a week with a sore elbow, but Pryor may give the Raiders a better chance to succeed because of his mobility. That could come in handy within an offense in which oft-injured running back Darren McFadden is the only proven playmaker. Oakland averaged 13.0 points over a six-game stretch last season before Pryor started a 24-21 season-ending loss at San Diego. "That's my goal, to be a starting quarterback and to lead a team to wins,'' said Pryor, who threw for 150 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while running for one score in his first career start that concluded Oakland's 4-12 season. "I won't stop until it happens. Until it happens and keeps on happening, I'll keep on pushing.'' He's among 14 quarterbacks to start for the Raiders since the beginning of the 2004 season - tied with Cleveland and Miami for the most during that span. Flynn could experience a case of deja vu after he lost a starting job that appeared to be his during preseason last year in Seattle, when he was beaten out by Russell Wilson. The Raiders also need more from McFadden, who's missed 13 games the last two seasons while running for 1,321 yards in that span. He rushed for 1,157 in 2010. He was held to 45 yards on 11 carries the only time he faced the Colts, a 31-26 home loss in the most recent meeting Dec. 26, 2010. The Raiders face an Indianapolis defense that added veterans Erik Walden, Greg Toler and LeRon Landry after ranking 26th overall with 374.2 yards per game and 29th against the run at 137.5. Oakland brought back veteran defensive back Charles Woodson, along with former Saint Tracy Porter and ex-Chicago linebacker Nick Roach after allowing an average of 32.0 points during its last eight losses. Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
housemd 338 Posted September 7, 2013 No upsets here. 10 27 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241 Posted September 8, 2013 28-27... DA RAIDUUUHHHSSS!! FREE PRYOR! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted September 8, 2013 (edited) Can't wait to see how the Pep Hamilton and Andrew Luck reunion looks like. I like the moves they made on offense picking up Ahmad Bradshaw to help out their running game and Darrius Heyward-Bay. The Raiders were one of the worst teams in the league last year. They just named Terrelle Pryor their starting QB so it's going to be interesting to watch him play. I'm still taking the Colts though. 27 16 Edited September 8, 2013 by dutchff7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vin+ 3,121 Posted September 8, 2013 Ahmad Bradshaw is active for Week 1 against the Raiders. As expected. Indy's Week 1 inactives are S Delano Howell, LB Pat Angerer, LB Kavell Conner, C Khaled Holmes, TE Jack Doyle, WR/KR David Reed, and DL Montori Hughes. With Angerer and Conner out of the lineup, the Colts are down to No. 4 inside linebacker Kelvin Sheppard next to Jerrell Freeman. David Ausberry TE Inactive Juron Criner WR Inactive Antoine McClain G Inactive Matthew McGloin QB Inactive Ryan Robinson DE Inactive Brian Sanford DE Inactive Menelik Watson OT Inactive Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted September 8, 2013 Luck in year 2 against that Oakland D? Yeah. 30 19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bay 2,003 Posted September 9, 2013 I need to see Pryor play against a much better defense to say if he could be an effective starter. He made some nice plays from what I saw but then again he showed the young player in him with his interceptions. Raiders could have won this. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted September 9, 2013 Luck played good but it was against a bad team. Pryor however did show flashes of being able to make some noise at the QB position. He made some mistakes but with more experience (games) under his belt with some coaching, he might strive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KempBolt 498 Posted September 9, 2013 35 17 17 21 Oakland games just got interesting again. Pryor is the perfect fit for this team because he can deal with all the pressure he's going to get in his face and he can prolong drives to keep his poor defense off the field. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
