The Indianapolis Colts made the trip into Gillette Stadium

Indianapolis Colts Week 5 game balls vs Patriots Thursday night knowing that they weren’t anywhere near 100 percent. The defense’s best player — and league’s leading tackler— Darius Leonard being a no-go put an instant dent in the abilities of the team. Anthony Castonzo is still a week or so away www.coltscheapshop.com , and his offensive colleagues T.Y. Hilton and Jack Doyle were also inactive for Week 5.Now, when you figure in all of the in-game injuries that this one churned out, the fact that the team was able to give themselves a puncher’s chance at any point in this game was quite impressive. After the 38-24 loss, resulting in a fall to 1-4 on the season, the Colts desperately need the extra few day’s rest before they again travel to the east coast to play the New York Jets in Week 6.In the meantime, here are the game balls for those who stepped up for the Colts Thursday night.OFFENSEAndrew LuckMan, if there is a guy who has rolled his eyes at the national media through his performances the last two weeks, it’s Andrew Luck. Luck, again, topped 50 pass attempts for a third time this season and was phenomenal with his accuracy. Going downfield was a focus, but with so many drops the numbers won’t lend that to the narrative. Luck threw 3 touchdowns along with 2 interceptions on the night — one resulting from a drop — and considering the lack of playmakers around him, I don’t know how you could be anything other than mesmerized by his play.Well over 350 yards in back-to-back games, and the pinpoint accuracy he showed in 2016 were just a couple major factors in his getting my game ball. His massive improvement in resetting his feet, moving through to second and third progressions and his improved navigation of the pocket are just icing on the cake for me. Luck is throwing a lot more than anyone would like him to have to right now, but let’s face it, a lot of things have to go right for the Colts to be in position to win a game when Luck isn’t throwing at least 40 times. The team simply isn’t there yet. Though i’m sure many tuned out last night because of the score Indianapolis Colts T-Shirt , i’m just as certain that many stayed put just to continue watching Luck persevere and dice up the Patriots’ defense.Eric Ebron is getting an honorable mention for his 9-catch, 105-yard performance that netted 2 of Luck’s touchdown throws. Ebron continues to be a nice weapon for Luck and this offense, and he was on the receiving end of some big throws that helped move the chains throughout the night as well.DEFENSEMatthias FarleyWith Leonard, Kenny Moore and Nate Hairston out Thursday night, the secondary was in a bad way against the Patriots. Anthony Walker and Clayton Geathers going down during the game made that situation even worse.This is ‘home’ for Matthias Farley, though. The Colts No. 3 safety is very involved in the rotation in the secondary and has been one of the better Colts defenders over the past two seasons. Farley was actually able to put it on the stat sheet Thursday night. He picked off a tipped ball and nearly had the lane to return it for a touchdown, and later laid the hit on Rob Gronkowski that forced a Najee Goode interception as the Patriots looked to be driving towards another score. He finished with 6 total tackles and would have been a key part in a full comeback had the Colts not given the ball back themselves afterwards.With Geathers suffering a pretty significant hit to the neck — which had been a major cause for concern in relation to his future — and suffering a concussion as well, we may be seeing a lot more of Farley in the starting lineup.Lenzy Pipkins earns the honorable mention tag for the defense today. He’s been up and down the Colts roster all season so far and stepped up with a physical presence (9 tackles) in the secondary with Nate Hairston and Kenny Moore sidelined from injuries in Week 4.OTHERColts offensive lineNearly 60 dropbacks Thursday night, and the only sack the Patriots got was on the first series of the game. The Colts have had to use rookie Braden Smith, Joe Haeg, Le’Raven Clark, Denzelle Good and J’Marcus Webb (no longer on the roster) at tackle with Castonzo being out and the Austin Howard experiment failing before the season even started.Luckily, the Colts interior has been largely free of any lingering injuries and have been doing a really nice job in anchoring this offensive line so far. Listen: the Colts have 1 game — I said 1 — in which they’ve allowed more than 2 sacks this year. Of course he’s been hit a fair amount, but performances like Thursday night are not of the norm for a Colts offensive line.Luck is currently being sacked at a rate of once every 24.5 attempts and is allowing for him to do what he does best. When you take that versus the once every 17 attempts that he’s had to endure throughout his career previous to the 2018 season, it’s impossible not to take notice. The group has stepped up big time if you ask me. With the revolving door at tackle, consideration to the defensive fronts they’ve had to battle Indianapolis Colts Hats , and the assist that the coaching staff is lending them with chip blocks and pulling different linemen, the product this year is much more palatable. Tom Brady isn't worried about the shortcomings that the Patriots' offense has displayed so far this season — whether it's turnovers or lack of downfield passing.His measuring stick for progress is much more simplistic."It's really not about those things to me. It's about points," Brady said after New England's 38-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night .It was the second straight game the Patriots have scored 38 points. It's also the second consecutive week that it's looked like Brady and the offense are turning a corner following a lackluster 1-2 start to the season that included a paltry 10-point effort in a loss to Detroit."Ultimately we gotta score more points," Brady said. "We scored 38, which is great. But we have more in us."Buoyed by the return of receiver Julian Edelman from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance enhancers, Brady looked like the reigning regular-season MVP for the first time this season.On a night in which he notched his 500th career regular-season touchdown pass, he spread the ball around to eight receivers and threw for a season-high 341 yards.He was spot-on from the start, completing his first nine passes on an opening drive that ended with a 1-yard TD pass to Cordarrelle Patterson. Brady didn't complete more than two passes on an opening drive in any of the team's first four games.And after an offseason that featured lots of player departures on the offensive side of the ball, Thursday's victory also highlighted just how many weapons Brady still has at his disposal.Rookie running Sony Michel came up just two yards shy of his second straight 100-yard game. Tight end Rob Gronkowski broke out of a recent fog with six catches for 75 yards. And recent acquisition Josh Gordon notched his first touchdown — Brady's 500th — showing off his ability as the big-play threat this offense has been missing.Edelman's return might have simply been an extra cherry on top an already-decadent cake."It was great. There's some things that obviously we have to work on. But it was good to get out there and catch some rocks and go out there and make some plays and be with the fellas," Edelman said. "I haven't played football in like, 405 days or something like that. It was good to be out there with the crowd rocking. It was awesome. It was amazing. It's great to be back."DISAPPOINTING STARTWhile the Patriots are finding their footing, the Colts have lost three straight and slipped to 1-4.One of the recurring themes has been self-inflicted mistakes, particularly turnovers. Indianapolis had three more on Thursday."We're not going to win consistently until we learn how to get out of our own way," Colts quarterback Andrew Luck said. "I think when we look at ourselves, we're going to have to learn how not to lose before we want to give ourselves a chance to win. And so, it's frustrating Indianapolis Colts Hoodie , the stuff out there. We're all frustrated but I don't think anybody's losing the belief."INJURIES PILING UPLuck did his best to keep Indy in the game, even as injuries continue to pile up around him.Indianapolis entered the game with receiver T.Y. Hilton headlining a list of five starters that were sidelined. The Colts added four more key players to that list on Thursday.Linebacker Anthony Walker left in the first quarter with a concussion. Safety Clayton Geathers was initially evaluated for a concussion early in the second quarter, before clearing the protocol. But he remained out with a neck injury. Defensive tackle Margus Hunt (knee) and DT/DE Denico Autry (hamstring) also both had short nights.Coach Frank Reich said the injuries weren't even discussed entering the game."It's the hand that is dealt you," Reich said. "You can't have penalties, turnovers, and drops against a good team, against any team, especially on the road. So, we just got to pick up the pieces and I still have a lot of confidence in our players.SLINGING IT AROUNDPerhaps because of all the injuries, Luck is having to carry a lot more of the offensive load for the Colts.Over the last two games, he has attempted 121 passes. According to Elias Sports Bureau that's the second-most pass attempts in a two-game span in NFL history and the most ever in a five-day span. Philip Rivers holds the record with 123 pass attempts in Weeks 6 and 7 in 2015.MILESTONESColts K Adam Vinatieri missed a 38-yard field goal in first quarter. But it marked his 673rd attempt, passing Gary Anderson for second on the all-time list.Vinatieri made a 54-yarder in the second quarter on his 674th attempt. He now trails only Morten Andersen's 709 career attempts.With his victory, Brady has now tied Vinatieri for most wins by player in NFL history (226).