The news of Andrew Luck's shoulder ailment put a wretched bowtie on a month that claimed Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Romo to injuries. Other passers, like Jameis Winston and Matthew Stafford, are banged up as well.

September also revealed some galling offensive line play in places like Philadelphia and Miami and yes, Indianapolis. It's too facile to say poor offensive line play leads to quarterback injuries (especially in Dallas), but it's not a stretch to say pro football's blocking issues are putting offenses and seasons at risk....

Two major culprits have compounded this problem: the preponderance of the spread offense at the collegiate level, and the reduction of offseason practice time at the pro level.

The spread (and other progressive offenses like it) has produced a lot of exciting highlights, but it's also caused a bit of a blind spot when evaluating linemen out of school. A quarterback who starts in the shotgun or throws the ball on most downs doesn't give much of a look at the kind of run-blocking and pass protection needed in the NFL.