Colts links: Matt Hasselbeck is so old ...

Matt Hasselbeck is so old ...

How old is he?!

If you know that bit from "The Tonight Show" when Johnny Carson hosted it, you may know some more facts vaguely related to the Indianapolis Colts quarterback who filled in for Andrew Luck and helped produce a 16-13 overtime victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

So how old is Hasselbeck? He could have watched Carson -- "The Tonight Show" host from 1962-92 -- throughout high school.

That's one of the many semi-Hasselbeck-related items unearthed since Sunday's game.

• Will Brinson at CBS Sports notes that the TV hit "Welcome Back, Kotter" debuted in 1975, the same year Hasselbeck was born. And here's something local sports fans can better relate to regarding Hasselbeck's age:

The ABA, or American Basketball Association for you darn kids, was the AFL to the NBA's NFL. When Hasselbeck was born it still existed. On the day he was born the Denver Nuggets and New York Nets (yes, New York) applied to join the NBA.

And don't forget the Indiana Pacers.

• Sean Gentille at Sporting News suggests another potential backup QB for the Colts: Steve Bartkowski, who was a rookie in 1975.

• Alex Marvez at Fox Sports points out some sobering issues that have a silver lining -- the Colts are somehow leading the AFC South.

The offensive line is a sieve.

The running game remains shoddy.

The secondary is riddled with cornerback injuries.

The pass rush is mediocre.

And there is palpable tension between head coach Chuck Pagano and Ryan Grigson over personnel decisions to boot.

• Mitch Goldich at Sports Illustrated notes that Hasselbeck is a few days short of 13 years older than Coby Fleener. Hasselbeck tossed a 2-yard touchdown to Fleener on Sunday. How does that rate on the old-QB-to-young-receiver scale? It doesn't, really. Vinny Testaverde has been more than 20 years older than his receivers.

However, going the other direction, Hasselbeck is involved.

Looking at things from the other perspective, with young quarterbacks throwing to older receivers—well, you had to know there was a reason I was bringing this up. The widest age gap came back in 2004 when a young man named Matt Hasselbeck, then a spry 29-year-old Seahawk, threw two touchdown passes to the 42-year-old Jerry Rice, 12 years and 347 days his senior.

• In USA TODAY's '50 things we learned' feature, there are notes about Hasselbeck, Ed Hochuli (who was officiating the Colts' game), Todd Herremans and Adam Vinatieri.

Matt Hasselbeck became the first 40-year-old QB to start since Brett Favre in 2010, according to Pro-Football-Reference.

Ed Hochuli was the official working the Indianapolis Colts game. We're guessing Hasselbeck is old enough to get calls. We're kidding. We think.

Colts OL Todd Herremans was a healthy inactive. Maybe Chip Kelly got one right in the offseason. But it looks like he got everything else wrong.

Adam Vinatieri became the first player in league history to top 1,000 points with two teams.