Luck’s long-awaited return gets spoiled

Quarterback Andrew Luck waited impatiently in the Indianapolis Colts locker room Sunday.

As he contemplated his first regular-season start in more than 20 months, Luck reflected on his excruciatingly long journey back from shoulder surgery, the things he wanted to show in the opener and, of course, leading his team to victory.

Then realty hit. Indy’s first scoring chance ended when Luck’s first official pass was picked off.

He threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns, but his chance to rally the Colts to a victory ended when the Bengals returned a fumble 83 yards for a touchdown in the final minute.

“It hurts that we didn’t win, it hurts that we didn’t win at home,” Luck said following a 34-23 loss to the Bengals. “It crushes all of us.”

A long day: The Miami Dolphins overcame two weather delays to win the longest game since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, beating the Tennessee Titans, 27-20.

Delays for lightning lasted a total of 3 hours, 59 minutes, and the game took 7 hours, 10 minutes to play. The previous longest game since 1970 was a Bears overtime victory against the Ravens in 2013 that took 5 hours, 16 minutes.

Miami led, 7-3, when the game was suspended for nearly two hours late in the first half. The teams went to the locker room during the delay and stayed on the field for halftime, which was shortened to 31⁄2 minutes.

Lightning forced a halt again midway through the third quarter, and the second stoppage lasted just over two hours. Perhaps 10,000 fans remained at the finish.