The Indianapolis Colts have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL during the 2022 season. Many people thought they would be a playoff team with dark-horse Super Bowl potential, but the Colts are going to fall woefully short of those expectations.
A big reason for their struggles has been the ineffectiveness of their offense. Indianapolis believed they were getting a big upgrade with Matt Ryan being acquired from the Atlanta Falcons to take over for Carson Wentz, but that was not the case.
Ryan struggled mightily this season as he was a turnover machine. Frank Reich was fired after he turned to Sam Ehlinger for two games, who was unable to provide a spark. Ryan was inserted back into the lineup by interim head coach Jeff Saturday, but results didn’t improve. Looking to shake things up again, Saturday turned to Nick Foles, who looked as bad as you would expect someone who hadn’t taken a snap yet this season.
Indianapolis is now riding a five-game losing streak, as they have steadily moved closer to the top of the draft board. While they haven’t outright come and said that was the plan when they hired Saturday, it is hard to believe that ownership actually felt Saturday would help them turn things around as he had zero coaching experience above the high school level.
If improving their draft position was the goal, they have succeeded in that regard. However, how they have gone about it has been truly embarrassing. There has been a lot to criticize the Colts for, but the most egregious thing is their performance late in games.
Game planning and adjustments likely have something to do with it, as the Colts have been competitive earlier in games during this lost streak. However, when it comes down to the fourth quarter, they have looked akin to minor leaguers playing against professionals. As pointed out by NFL on CBS, the Colts have been outscored 84-3 in the fourth quarter of their losing streak.
That would be grounds for firing again, as it extrapolates to giving up 16.8 points per quarter, which would be more than 67 points per game. This a truly eye-popping number when looking at it in that fashion as the highest-scoring team in the NFL this season averages 29.2 points per game.
It is safe to say that Saturday and likely all of this staff will not be returning next season. Indianapolis needs a sizable overhaul, but, the staff won’t matter too much if the Colts are once again unable to address their biggest need, which is a long-term answer at the quarterback position.
