Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen tried to provide answers after Sunday’s embarrassing playoff-eliminating loss to the New York Giants.
His responses only created more questions.
After seeing his injured starting quarterback sit out again and the defense turn in yet another baffling performance, Indy’s second-year coach struggled to explain what went wrong in the 45-33 loss—and what solutions exist.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve got to play a complete game, we haven’t done it all year. We’ve all got to be on the same page. That (performance) is not good enough.”
Changes almost certainly will be part of the long-term solution now that the franchise playoff drought has reached four years.
Steichen didn’t discuss quarterback Anthony Richardson’s back injury until after Richardson appeared on Wednesday’s injury report. At that point, Steichen called it back soreness. So when Richardson was ruled out Saturday, fans naturally started wondering whether this was similar to the game in which Richardson took himself out because he was tired.
Steichen clarified what happened Sunday, saying he should have been clearer about the spasms that were so severe, Indy needed to protect the 22-year-old quarterback. So the 39-year-old Joe Flacco started the must-win game.
Richardson’s absence might have been the least of Indy’s problems. The way it played out, though, prompted fans and former players such as Pat McAfee to question whether Indy’s locker room needs a culture change and whether players arrived late to meetings and injury treatments.
“I think with any team not everyone’s going to be on time every time, but there is accountability and guys are held to a standard,” Steichen said Monday. “When the standard is getting in the playoffs, it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to a lot of people, myself included, and that’s why we talk about the standard being raised so we’re not in these situations.”
Sunday’s game again exposed plenty of problems for the Colts (7-9).
They started slowly, couldn’t get off the field against the league’s lowest-scoring offense and allowed a 100-yard kickoff return to start the second half that left Indy in a 28-13 hole, sapping any momentum for a potential second-half rally.
And for the second time in three weeks, Steichen’s play-calling drew questions, too.
Indy ran the ball on third-and-long before sending kicker Matt Gay onto the field for a 54-yard field goal that drifted wide right. Jonathan Taylor came up short on a fourth-and-1 play, dropped the ball on a trick play 2-point conversion try that would have tied the score and had a potential TD pass bounce off his helmet when he didn’t turn in time.
But for a defense that allowed 45 points in a crucial game, one thing is obvious—changes are coming.
“The offense scored 33 points, and we couldn’t stop a nosebleed on defense. That’s very frustrating,” Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said Monday. “Like I said, this offseason, there’s going to be some changes and some of those changes are going to be uncomfortable for people. There are going to be some uncomfortable conversations, and we’re going to make those changes for the better.
What’s working
The playmakers. Despite Taylor’s continuing miscues, he and Michael Pittman Jr. kept the Colts in this game. Taylor finished with 125 yards rushing and two more TDs, giving him 443 yards and five TDs over the past two weeks. Pittman had his best game of the season with nine catches for 109 yards and one TD.
What needs help
Everything else. Flacco threw two interceptions, the defense allowed 389 yards, missed a plethora of tackles and couldn’t get stops. Gay missed the long field-goal attempt, and the Giants had their first kickoff return for a TD to start the second half since 1949.
Stock up
Kylen Granson. It’s been a tough season for Colts tight ends, but Granson, finally, provided a bright spot Sunday when he caught a season high-tying three passes for 34 yards. It was his third-best yardage total of the season.
Stock down
Gus Bradley. The Colts defensive coordinator has been criticized most of this season and the cries are only going to grow louder now. After building a seemingly safe 38-7 lead midway through the third quarter against Tennessee last week, Indy gave up 23 points and had to reinsert its starters. Then came Sunday’s debacle. A decision on Bradley’s job status should come soon shortly after next week’s season finale.
Injuries
The Colts reported no new injuries following the game. It’s still unclear whether Richardson can return for what is now a meaningless season finale against Jacksonville— or whether Flacco likely closes out his career in Indy with one more start.
Key number
Minus-3—Indy lost one fumble in addition to Flacco’s two interceptions, leaving the Colts at minus-3 in Sunday’s turnover battle.
Next steps
With this season’s fate already sealed, preparations for next season can begin in earnest. Yes, the Colts still face the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-12). But the debate over who returns and who does not among other changes for 2025 will dominate the discussion this week.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Ballard must go.
I see the Colts have finally returned to their base identity of mediocrity. If even that.
It’s the usual state of the Colts as owned by the Irsays, back to Baltimore. The Peyton Manning era was an aberration.
McAfee is totally on target. Like any enterprise, attitudes, procedures and resulting performances don’t come from the bottom up but from the top down. For at least 8 years the Colts franchise has shown a severe case of incompetent leadership resulting in extremely poor results. At this point, the entire Colt operation has become a rudderless joke….an embarrassment. True Colts fans will have brown sacks tucked under their coats for the TV broadcast.
Clean the entire house. They need to find a GM immediately as there will be 5-6 other teams looking for new coaches a week from now. The Colts would have you believe it’s a building process and they need time. The Washington Commanders have shown that is not the case. If they don’t make major changes then it is time for ticket holders and sponsors to take action and treat them the way they treat us.
The most irritating thing about the Colts in general is the arrogance. Ballard seems to think the issue is that we are just not smart enough to understand the positives in the dreadful roster that he has assembled. Our defense was dreadful last year and we did 0.0 to improve. How many impactful roster moves did we make at any time since last season? Other Teams are at least attempting to get better; we just ran back the same bunch that failed last year and hoped for better results. I suspect that they will do the same again for next year….
The OB is supposed to be the team leader on AND off the field, Anthony Richardson is anything but that. Other quarterbacks in the Richardson age-group have excelled and shown a growth and leadership trajectory (Jake Daniels, Bo Nix, Drake Maye, CJ Stroud, the list goes on) but Richardson has floundered, shown a questionable work and leadership ethic. It might be argued he hasn’t had the right coaching (or is that babysitting?), but I think most of it is on him. Simply put, he has physical gifts, but he simply is not a franchise quarterback, all the talk of his running and escapability skills do not outweigh the fact he does not have the right stuff to be franchise QUARTERBACK! Never did — I was never excited about his coming here in the first place. “Running” quarterbacks typically have a short and unimpressive shelf life. Mostly flash, but quick burnout. There were what ifs around him when he came in, and there are even more now. *And that’s those rare times he actually played. Cut the cord, or relegate him to another position…TE? I don’t know.
Richardson was exceedingly green (and the world knew that when they drafted him) and the Colts, to the best of my knowledge, didn’t surround him with a really good QB coach and others to help with the development. It’s still too early to figure out what he will be.
I suspect he will go on to be a pretty good quarterback once he gets into a better situation with better coaching and the Colts will be mocked. Recall this is the franchise that drafted Jeff George … and traded the team’s best lineman AND wide receiver to get him. How’d that work out?
Franchise needs to identify a guy out there with a Bill Parcells persona for GM and another like Vince Lombardi for head coach that can, and would, put together a coaching staff and roster worth rooting for. The Colts are, and have continued to be ‘obtuse’, soft and indifferent since Ballard got here. Irsay family….wake up!
Richardson should have stayed in college. He hasn’t played the QB position enough to be an NFL starter. The Colts need to draft a serviceable QB—period. Find a Purdy in this year’s draft—period. The Colts have spent a mint on QBs since Luck ran out on them, and they haven’t “hit” on the QB position. They need to draft a guy who’s played the QB position well in college. Draft Kyle McCord—someone like him, etc. Until they get a serviceable QB, they won’t win.
#draftaquarterbackwhocanplaythepostion
Luck might not have quit if he hadn’t been beaten up by the offensive lines that Ryan Grigson ran out there. Colts had a great asset and squandered it.
The Colts risk making the same mistake that Buffalo would have made if they’d given up on Josh Allen after two years. Not saying Richardson will turn out, but what makes you think they will know what to do with a QB they take at 12th in the draft?
The Colts are so mediocre in so many places that … just changing the QB won’t fix it. The wide receivers are mediocre. They’ve got 4 tight ends that would be second stringers anywhere else. No second RB. A defense ranked 29th in the NFL that just made Drew Lock look like Tom Brady in a must-win game. And none of it will change until Jim turns over final decision making, which he won’t ever do.