The Indianapolis Colts’ hopes to make their first postseason in four years came to an embarrassing end on Sunday. They had a long shot to get into the playoffs anyway, but there was a possibility that they could sneak in, barring that they win their remaining games. After an embarrassing 45-33 loss on the road against the New York Giants, the Colts are searching for answers to what went wrong for the fourth straight year. Unfortunately, the answer might not be cut and dry. The obvious issue, though, is just the team’s discipline, execution, and leadership.
The lion-share of the blame, when a team is eliminated from playoff contention, is the head coach. For the Colts, this is no exception. However, their General Manager, Chris Ballard, has been under fire all season for his lack of aggression and conservation mentality. It is hard to say whether aggression in the offseason could’ve resulted in a different end to the 2024 season. Nonetheless, it is clear that the player’s ability to execute has been the issue and that starts with coaching. With the Colts’ pursuit of the postseason coming to an end in Week 17, where do they go from here?
What Went Wrong for the Colts
Lack of Experience
One of the more prominent issues for the Colts this season has been their lack of experience. They are currently led by a 22-year-old quarterback, Anthony Richardson, who has just 15 career starts. With this, his inexperience has been on full display in 2024. The most glaring issue has been his accuracy and decision-making, which go hand-in-hand with experience. Richardson currently has a 47.7 completion percentage and 13 total turnovers. The good news is that he is 6-5 as a starter, so he can win games here and there. Overall, though, the Colts had a relatively easy schedule, which contributed to making this season better than it probably should have been. Richardson still has a lot of football ahead of him and he has plenty of room to learn and grow. However, he will need more maturity and leadership around him to help him succeed.
It should be pointed out that the Colts’ biggest playmakers have not had much playoff experience. Both Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr. only have one game of playoff experience, which came in their rookie season in 2020. In that year, they had veteran quarterback, Philip Rivers as their starter which helped the offense, as a whole, tremendously. This is not to say that the Colts should’ve kept Richardson on the bench to watch Joe Flacco. Flacco had turnover issues of his own and he was surrounded by inexperienced receivers. In five starts, Flacco had a 1-4 record with seven interceptions.
This season will certainly be one that will puzzle many Colts fans and coaches during the offseason. Nonetheless, the Colts must make some changes as what they’ve done the last four years has not worked.
Lack of Execution
Another glaring issue for the Colts this season has been a lack of execution. Naturally, when a team is eliminated from playoff contention late in the season, it is due to the team’s lack of execution. For the Colts, though, they seem to have struggled with this way too often in 2024.
There is a plethora of examples in which the Colts were laughable on offense in terms of execution. For instance, the Colts attempted a flee-flicker which ended up being interceptioned for a touchdown in Week 15. On Sunday, Jonathan Taylor dropped a backward pass on a two-point conversion attempt. Taylor also dropped the football before crossing the goal line in Week 15 which took a touchdown off the board. The Colts are -5 on turnover differential, which ranks 19th in the league. They also rank 16th in third-down conversions and 18th in Red Zone touchdown percentage.
The defense has also been laughable at times in terms of their execution. They allow a 45% success rate on third down which ranks 31st in the league. They also give up 25.3 points per game which ranks 27th in the league. Also, they struggled to get pressure on the quarterback and have struggled in the secondary. The Colts have made quarterbacks like Drew Locke, Drake Maye, and Mason Rudolph look like stars. All three of these suspect quarterbacks had one of their better performances against Gus Bradley’s defense. All around, the Colts’ defense struggles to finish games and make plays when the team needs them the most.
Lack of Leadership
A lack of experience will translate to a lack of execution. These deficiencies typically are a by-product of bad leadership. As the Colts are starring at another season ending before the postseason starts, they need to take a hard look at themselves from the top down. It is on the shoulders of the players to execute and play. However, it is on the shoulders of the coaches to ensure that their players are disciplined and prepared to play. The Colts have not acted like they were ready for this season and that was indicticitive by the way Sunday’s game transpired.
The Colts are not a consistent football team that is ready for the postseason. Even if they had made the playoffs, it would have been a tall order for them to do anything significant. If the Colts want to turn things around in 2025, something has to change. It will remain to be seen whether that change needs to be from coaches or players. However, what Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen, and Gus Bradley have been doing the last couple of seasons has not worked. The offense has been inconsistent, the defense has been atrocious, and the personnel brought in by Ballard have been suspect.
Although the Colts’ postseason aspirations have come to an end, they still have one game left to play against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The way they perform in that game will be a good indicator of who this team truly is. If they can have a strong outing to end the year, that will be significant to the morale of this franchise in the offseason. If they crumble and have another horrible performance, rest assured that some major changes will be coming soon.
Main Image: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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