Give the NFL schedule-makers credit. They've set things up to provide Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck a taste of everything in the preseason.

Last week, he was able to play against another rebuilding team, the St. Louis Rams, and taste some early success. Tonight, he'll face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh. Preseason game or not, that's a daunting road trip. Next week, he'll face the overwhelming power of hype when the Colts travel to Washington to take on the Redskins and fellow rookie Robert Griffin III.

The hype for Luck vs. Griffin, even in preseason, will be off the charts. Both teams are already selling T-shirts touting the “Showdown.” (Showdown is not in quote marks, but it's implied for those with common sense about preseason games.)

But, first things first. Even though the Steelers will likely play a vanilla-flavored defense tonight, they'll be eager to teach Luck a lesson in the 8 p.m., NBC-televised game.

“I realize every defense is good in the NFL, in my mind,” Luck said. “But to have a chance to go against a great historical defense, a great franchise, with a great fan base, will be fun.”

Colts coach Chuck Pagano said he plans to play other starting players around Luck a little longer tonight, including receivers Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie and running back Donald Brown. It'll be interesting to see whether Luck makes more use of his rookie tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen this week. Fleener was targeted only twice against the Rams, and Allen did not have a ball thrown his way.

Allen said he expects things to be a little tougher for the Colts offense against the Steelers.

“(R)oad wins are tough, even tougher in the NFL,” Allen said. “Going against a Pittsburgh team who is known for their physicality, for their toughness, that's something we want to incorporate into our game, into this program, so we need to go out and have a good showing.”
The Colts worked on silent counts with all three quarterbacks during practice this week, a necessity for playing in front of loud, hostile crowds. Normally, crowds aren't quite as rowdy during the preseason, but the presence of Luck and his accompanying reputation seems likely to spur the Heinz Field crowd into a regular-season style noise.
Luck said he thought his first preseason game helped him adjust to the speed of the NFL.
“Game speeds are always different,” Luck said. “Coach has done a great job here at practice of pushing us to get to that point, to that level, but it always kicks up a notch in a game. So it was a sense of relief after the first couple of plays (against St. Louis), 'OK, I can handle this speed a little bit.' So there's hope.”