LOS ANGELES -- If the Indianapolis Colts were going to have a quarterback controversy while Andrew Luck is out, they should have had it in May or June, not in September -- and not after getting thoroughly embarrassed by the Rams.
But here the Colts are, having to decide if they should permanently stick with Jacoby Brissett as the starter until Luck returns or go back to Scott Tolzien, who was benched in the fourth quarter of Sunday's opener after looking horrible for three quarters in the Colts’ 46-9 loss to the Rams.
"We have to look at everything," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said when asked about his quarterback situation.
The Colts have only themselves to blame for being in this quarterback situation. As the days went by, Tolzien showed while taking first-team snaps that he doesn’t have what it takes to run the offense in Luck’s absence.
Indianapolis should have avoided this situation months ago. They have repeatedly said they knew there was a possibility that Luck would miss time in the regular season. They could have gone out and acquired a quarterback -- Colin Kaepernick -- to push, and likely pass, Tolzien for snaps with the first team. There's no timetable on Luck's return from his January right shoulder surgery.
They stood pat with Tolzien and even released Stephen Morris, who had a better preseason than Tolzien, because they felt like Tolzien was consistently better.
Offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski said he wanted Tolzien to be the best Scott Tolzien that he could be and not worry about being Andrew Luck in just the fourth start of his NFL career. The Colts would have been better off if Tolzien had played like an injured Luck.
A sign of things to come for Tolzien started on his first pass attempt, when he tried to throw to T.Y. Hilton along the Colts sideline. The pass was so badly underthrown that it was an easy interception for Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who returned it 39 yards for a touchdown.
And even when Tolzien did have an open receiver, his lack of arm strength was evident. He had an open Kamar Aiken deep across the middle of the field, but the ball hung in the air long enough that safety Lamarcus Joyner was able to make up the ground and knock the pass down.
Tolzien’s second interception that was returned for a touchdown happened when he targeted Hilton again along the Colts sideline. This time, it was Joyner who leaped in the air for the pick that was returned 29 yards.
"Two pick-sixes, you're not going to win many games in the NFL doing that," Tolzien said. "It’s a team effort, but I certainly want to own this one and put it on me. You always feel guilty when you let your team down."
It probably was only fitting that Tolzien’s final pass would have been intercepted and likely returned for another score by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, had Colts wide receiver Donte Moncrief not broken up the play by yanking on Robey-Coleman’s facemask and being called for a penalty.
Tolzien's day ended with him going 9-of-18 for 128 yards with two interceptions and also being sacked four times. Tolzien is the first quarterback to throw two pick-sixes in a game since Tony Romo did against Carolina in Week 12 of the 2015 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
"You never want to be taken out of the game, obvious statement, but that's what needed to be done at the time and Chuck is the head coach, whatever he does I’m for it," Tolzien said.
Brissett, whom the Colts acquired from the New England Patriots for receiver Phillip Dorsett on Sept. 2, completed his first pass for 50 yards to lead the Colts to their only touchdown of the game. He was 2-of-3 for 51 yards.
The Colts have enough tape of Tolzien to realize what he is; now it looks like it might be time to give Brissett a shot at running the offense.
"The amount of time that he’s been in the building, his menu is real small to say the least," Pagano said. "We’re going to keep learning, keep teaching and keep bringing him up to speed the best we can and we’ll see where we're at on the deal."