Let the Finger Pointing Begin for the Indianapolis Colts

Even after last week"s (ugly) win over Kansas City, expectations were low for the Colts, but still many expected Indy to finally win their first division game the season. Instead, the Colts made everyone eat their words very quickly as Indianapolis got down 20-3 very early in the ball game. The turnovers, ball security, and overall poor fundamentals (penalties) again destroyed any rally or pandemonium the stadium was ready for. Indianapolis did make a little second and third-quarter rally to bring it within a one-score game but never materialized anything more after that, losing by a final of 24-17.

The Few Positives for the Indianapolis Colts

Through the booing and foul language on Sunday, there was one bright spot for Indianapolis. The play of the tight ends really stood out. The trio had 11 targets on the day and caught all 11 targets amounting to 11 catches for 180 yards and 2 TDs. This was really the only thing that went well for them the entire game, but it needed to be praised as they really stood out. Alec Pierce is starting to break out with his talent, which will be huge for the Colts going forward. ROLB/Special Teams Ace Zaire Franklin led the defense with 15 tackles on Sunday and continues his strong play

We Are Seeing Regression for the Colts Under Frank Ballard

The one negative that stood out more than anything on Sunday was the continued regression on both sides of the ball. Matt Ryan has continued to have ball security issues recording 2 more fumbles, bringing his total to an embarrassing 9 on the season. Right guard Danny Pinter was benched, and you wouldn’t realize it because the play on the interior was just as poor from his replacement, 2nd year RG Will Fries. The most shocking stat to me was of the 21 "defendable" balls thrown by Ryan Tannehill, Indianapolis defense recorded ZERO pass pressures on those thrown balls. Anyone can go on and on about more terrible stats from the game. The point of this argument is that well-coached football teams continue to improve throughout the year and this team is not improving at all.

Who Takes The Blame?

As every fan talks when their team is losing. Everyone blames somebody and rightfully so. Some fans seem to believe the blame should be given solely to Head Coach Frank Reich. Some to GM Chris Ballard. All reasonable responses. My belief is that it should be given to both men but also the owner Jim Irsay. Irsay signed Ballard and Reich to lucrative five-year extensions last season after imploding the final two weeks of the season and missing the playoffs. Irsay claimed that Chris Ballard was the "greatest GM hire of the 21^st century."

When Ballard hired Josh McDaniels to coach Indianapolis after firing Chuck Pagano after the 17-18 season, it was Irsay who wanted Frank Reich to be the next head coach overstepping Chris Ballard on that decision. Irsay has stuck by Frank and Chris through all the mediocrity during their respective tenures. Reich is 38-29 with ZERO divisional titles and just one playoff win. Ballard’s strength has shown to be finding talent, but Reich cannot develop it as of yet. Ballard has the highest-paid offensive line in the league and the 3^rd highest paid defensive line in the league and the return on that investment has been unsatisfactory. The Colts have also sat in quarterback purgatory for the last seven seasons by having 6 different starting quarterbacks since 2016. That’s no way to build a franchise.

What’s Next For the Indianapolis Colts?

The Colts are on a short week this week as they travel to Denver for a Thursday night tilt. An interesting tweet was posted on Twitter via Peter King (who later clarified his statements) about the job status of both Chris Ballard and Frank Reich. But it bares noticing that he is not surprisingly very upset with the start that this franchise has had this season. His patience is wearing thin but as mentioned above some of these appear to be self-inflicted wounds from his decisions.

If Frank can right the ship against Denver on a short week, he can save his job for at least another week, but they will have 2 more back-to-back division games that Irsay will expect nothing less than victories. If Frank can find a way to win these next 3 weeks, no one will have to watch Irsay go scorched earth.

But if they cannot win and show progression then we will have to read about coaching candidates and as much as I would like to write that article for the fun of it, I would rather not!

Let us know your thoughts on who deserves the blame for the failures of the Indianapolis Colts in the comments below!

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