Andrew Luck’s progress could reach zenith against Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Step by step, Andrew Luck has climbed into the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks.

In each of his three seasons, he and the Indianapolis Colts got one game closer to the Super Bowl. Now he can reach that destination if he beats Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game tonight.

“I want to beat the best,” Luck said. “There’s a competitive spirit in all of this: ‘Hey, the harder it is, the better. Let’s go try and make it happen.’ ”

If the Colts (13-5) upset the Patriots (13-4), Luck will have accomplished a difficult feat: beating Peyton Manning and Brady in consecutive games on the way to the Super Bowl.

But a win against the 37-year-old Brady, 12 years his senior, won’t be a major measuring stick for Luck’s progress.

“That’s not a benchmark,” he said. “He’s a great role model for any quarterback at any level playing the position, but it’s a team game. To me, it’s as simple as that.”

Luck has piled up impressive statistics since being drafted with the first pick out of Stanford in 2012.

This season, he led the NFL with 40 touchdown passes and surpassed Manning’s single-season franchise high with 4,761 yards passing.

He’s also the only player to throw for at least 250 yards in each of his first five playoff games.

In his three seasons, the Colts lost in the wild-card round, then reached the division round and now are playing for the AFC title after Luck threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-13 divisional round win over Denver and Manning.

“He’s just stayed with the process,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “Right now he probably feels as good as he’s ever felt.”

And that’s not good for the Patriots.

“He was pretty good when he came in and he’s even better now,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. “He’s got a lot of strengths, no weaknesses.”

Sounds like Brady.

The 15-year veteran will play in his ninth AFC title game and fourth straight, but the Patriots lost two of the previous three. In last Saturday’s 35-31 divisional round win over the Baltimore Ravens, Brady led the Patriots back from two 14-point deficits. His three touchdown passes gave him 46 for his career, breaking Joe Montana’s record of 45 in the postseason.

“We’ve shown a lot of improvement and it all leads to this moment,” Brady said, “so we’ve got to be at our best.”

Richardson left home

Indianapolis running back Trent Richardson didn’t travel to New England for the AFC championship game, with the Colts only saying that the move was made because of personal reasons.

Richardson was inactive for Indianapolis’ victory at Denver last week after playing one snap in the playoff opener against Cincinnati.

Acquired from Cleveland for a first-round pick in September 2013, Richardson lost the starting job to Daniel Herron late in the season.

In 15 regular-season games this season, Richardson ran for 519 yards and three touchdowns.