Colts are stuck because they keep finding quarterbacks at a garage sale | Opinion
This keeps happening because the Indianapolis Colts love a good garage sale. That’s where they’ve found their last three quarterbacks, the latest Matt Ryan, who leads the NFL in interceptions and fumbles after whatever we’re calling this 19-10 loss Sunday at Tennessee.
Season-ending? No, it’s too soon for that. And this happened after the game, during Frank Reich’s news conference:
“Here’s the good news to me,” is how Reich started one comment, and I’m cringing, but let’s see where this goes. “I’m not looking for any silver linings, but as the head coach, you’ve got to have a little perspective here. We’re 3-3-1. We’re 3-3-1. We’re 3-3-1."
I'm a typo machine, yes, but that's not on me. Reich really said the Colts' record three times.
The Titans are 4-2. One of these two teams will win the AFC South. I mean, someone has to. Could be the Colts, I guess. Doubtful, but then, Titans coach Mike Vrabel showed some self-destructive tendencies Sunday.
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Colts still lost by nine. Even with the opposing coaching staff looking amateurish on two cutesy offensive calls that backfired. One silly play lost 3 yards and led to a punt that produced a Colts touchdown. The other bit of silliness, a jet sweep to the backup quarterback – no, not a typo, and quit asking! – led to a fumble that produced a Colts field goal.
Guess it’s too easy to run Derrick Henry down the Colts’ throat. Any idiot can call that play, and finally, any idiot did. Last we saw of Henry (30 carries, 128 yards), he was closing it out with nine carries on the Titans’ final 11 plays, including an 11-yarder late in the fourth quarter where he disappeared inside about 2,000 pounds of football players, the pile slowly moving down the field.
At least the Titans know how to handle the quarterback position. They scouted, identified and acquired a quarterback in his prime, 30-year-old Ryan Tannehill, in the 2019 offseason. Then they scouted, identified and selected a young quarterback to develop, Malik Willis, in the 2022 NFL Draft. They have today figured out, and tomorrow.
The Colts? They’re still trying to figure out how yesterday went so badly. Why did Philip Rivers play just one year here? Why was Carson Wentz such an empty vessel?
When did Matty Ice become Matty Butterfingers?
And how much longer will we be stuck on this miserable merry-go-round?
Bad day for Ryan, Pittman, Haack, OL, officials
First things first: This loss isn’t entirely Matt Ryan’s fault. That wouldn’t be fair, we need to be fair, and it’s fair to say the Colts’ offensive line was really bad Sunday. It’s also fair to say Michael Pittman Jr.’s fumble with 3½ minutes left was really bad, and that almost everything punter Matt Haack did was really bad.
The officials weren’t so good Sunday, either. Hey, that’s just the way it was. They blew consecutive facemask penalties in the second quarter, missing one by Tennessee, then inventing one by the Colts. You could say the sum total of those officiating miscues was 10 points, minimum, if you’re so inclined.
One play after officials missed 6-4, 305-pound Jeffery Simmons of the Titans pulling down Nyheim Hines by his face – spinning him to the ground, letting go and holding up his empty hands, like, wasn’t me! – Ryan threw an interception that Titans defensive back Andrew Adams returned 76 yards for a touchdown.
Instead of a first down at the Titans 13, the Colts faced second-and-12 at the 28. An obvious passing down. Didn’t help matters that Ryan stared down his intended receiver, Parris Campbell, before throwing a short down-and-out pass. Didn’t help, either, that Campbell wasn’t running a down-and-out. About the time he was turning up the field, oblivious to the ball in the air behind him, Adams was breaking on it for the pick-6.
That made it 10-0. On Tennessee’s next possession, Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke spun Derrick Henry to the ground similarly, and those wily officials, you can’t fool them twice! They nailed Okereke for the facemask.
Turns out, Okereke had a handful of Henry’s jersey, right above his sternum, not any part of his helmet. Instead of third-and-2 at the 26, Tennessee had first down at the 13. After a chip-shot field, the Titans led 13-0.
Now that we’ve done our due diligence, pointing out how badly the officials handled those two plays, followed by scoring plays moments later, let’s get real:
The Colts didn’t deserve to win this game. Not the way the offensive line played. Not the way Ryan played. Pittman's fumble? Haack's four punts of 32 yards or fewer? Those two guys were details. We have bigger fish to fry, like the offensive line and quarterback.
They’re related, the QB and OL, and not just because, duh, obviously they’re related. They’re related because in an NFL getting faster, with quarterbacks getting faster, the Colts have hitched their wagon to two of the slowest quarterbacks in the league in 2020 (Rivers) and 2022 (Ryan), all while treating their offensive line as something that will be fine if everyone just hopes hard enough.
Meanwhile, Ryan is taking a beating as the Colts’ quarterback. He was sacked three more times Sunday, and hit 10 more times. By game’s end, Ryan led the NFL in fumbles (11), interceptions (nine) and sacks (24).
The Colts are on pace to win the triple crown!
If only they could lose enough games to get one of the promising quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft. Knowing the Colts, though, they’ll try just hard enough and play just well enough to be picking somewhere in the latter half of the first round. The best quarterbacks will be gone by then, leaving the Colts with another decision after this season ends:
Run it back with Matt Ryan, or see what’s on the quarterback rack at Target.
Rivers, Wentz, Ryan and then who? Tannehill?
This game mattered, not that you’d know it by the way the Colts played. According to the number crunchers at FiveThirtyEight.com, Colts-Titans was the NFL’s most significant game of the week as it relates to 2022 NFL playoff implications. Maybe that’s why commissioner Roger Goodell was in town.
Whatever the case, the Colts did what they do every week, missing the alarm clock and waking up only when they were trailing 13-0. They’ve played five AFC South games this season, and trailed all of them by double digits.
Reich knows the criticism is coming.
“We deserve it,” he said, shortly after that whole “3-3-1” stuff. “We deserve all the negative stuff. We do. I do. But we’re 3-3-1. There’s a lot of football left.”
Oh goody.
A lot more of Matt Ryan, I guess. He threw interceptions on consecutive possessions in the first half, gift-wrapping 10 points for Tennessee. And just in case that first interception wasn’t his fault, that pick-6 to Andrew Adams as Parris Campbell was running another route, Ryan made sure to mess up the second one all by himself. He threw a soft pass for Pittman into double coverage, and Titans linebacker David Long grabbed it.
Other than those two passes, Ryan was pretty good: 33-for-42 for 243 yards and a 4-yard TD to Campbell. That’s been the case a lot this season. Take away all those interceptions and fumbles, and Ryan does a pretty good job.
Take away all my shortness, and I’m damn near 7 feet tall.
This is on the offensive line and Ryan, but really it’s on the Colts’ trinity of decision-makers: Owner Jim Irsay, GM Chris Ballard and coach Frank Reich. They slapped a band-aid on the QB position when Andrew Luck surprised everyone by retiring two weeks before the 2018 season opener, elevating backup Jacoby Brissett, because really, in late August, what else was there to do?
When Brissett wasn’t good enough, the Colts found Philip Rivers, all forlorn and friendly – Reich coached him in San Diego, you know – on the Chargers’ front yard. When Rivers unexpectedly retired after one season, the Colts found Carson Wentz, all forlorn and friendly (Reich coached him in Philadelphia, you know) on the Eagles’ front yard.
When Wentz was all numbers, no results, the Colts unloaded him like bric-a-brac on the Washington Commanders and drove to the nicest neighborhood in town to see what was on their lawn. That’s where they saw Matt Ryan, shined up nicely, near the Falcons’ mailbox. They brought him home.
Have I mentioned he leads the whole damn league in turnovers?
The Colts have 10 more regular-season games to play, and then perhaps a playoff game to lose, and then a decision to make. Who’s their quarterback in 2023?
Maybe next offseason the Titans will be ready to replace Ryan Tannehill, who will be 35, with Malik Willis. That would make for an interesting garage sale in Nashville. Who’s up for a road trip? If Tannehill is available, we’ll need to get there early.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.