Starting Nick Foles at QB means one of two things, and either makes Colts a joke | Opinion
Oh, so now is the time to try Nick Foles at quarterback? Do I have that right, Colts? After waiting for the season to be horribly and completely ruined by Matt Ryan, now you’re going to see what you had at QB2? Now?
I’m not sure what bothers me more. One, learning that Foles would have been an upgrade over Ryan, and the Colts watched him practice for 13 weeks and didn’t know, and now we find out he’s pretty good Monday night against Los Angeles. That’s one option.
Here’s the other option, and how I think this will play out: Nick Foles stinks, too, and never should’ve been brought here in the first place.
Just like they did with Philip Rivers and Carson Wentz, the Colts allowed former coach Frank Reich to dictate their quarterback depth chart, and he brought in Foles last year because, by golly, he knew him. And then we find out Monday night just how bad he is, which means everybody at 7001 W. 56th St. needs to be fired. The general manager, the interim coach on general principle, even the owner, if Jim Irsay can find a box large enough for all of his guitars.
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Do I seem down on the franchise right now? Hey, look who’s paying attention! The Colts have done nothing this season but waste my time and your money. This franchise hasn’t been serious since Andrew Luck retired four years ago. It wasn’t serious when it thought aging Philip Rivers was the answer. It was completely not serious when it thought Carson Wentz had any business in this city, and it wasn’t serious by deciding that ancient Matt Ryan was the answer this season. And giving him and Foles two-year contracts, no less.
When I say the Colts aren’t serious, you know what that means. Think of the opposite word of serious. The word I’m thinking of is joke. This franchise has been poorly run for about four years, and now all of the fruits are coming to bear.
Thing is, Nick Foles might be OK. And whatever he is, this isn’t his fault. Similarly, it’s not Matt Ryan’s fault that his car was teetering on the cliff when the Colts took on a contract with two years and $55 million remaining, after which he proceeded to fall completely off that cliff. He probably had no idea he was falling off the cliff. That’s the kind of thing only an NFL expert should be able to see, by watching his tape late last season. My guess is, if the Colts went back and watched his final games in Atlanta, they would see what they missed: that he’s near that cliff. But they saw what they wanted to see, a mistake this franchise makes all the time.
It’s all too late now, of course. Jonathan Taylor is on injured reserve, last year‘s NFL rushing leader reduced to irrelevant this season by injuries and the offensive line’s incompetence. Linebacker Shaquille Leonard is done for the season, the victim of another ridiculous Colts injury saga. The offensive line is bad, the receiving corps is thin, and these are all things that people like you and me were saying in the preseason.
How is it that the people running the Colts don’t know as much about their own franchise as you and I do? I’m not quite serious; I realize the front office, and even Jim Irsay, know much more about football than you and me, and yet here we are. The quarterback situation is a joke. The offensive line is a joke. The receiving corps is mostly a joke. Seems like most of us had suspicions of this a long time ago. But look who’s the last to know.
So let’s all tune in Monday night and watch Nick Foles, and not because we want him to do well. How irritating would that be if he’s really good? And not because we want him to stink. How irritating would THAT be?
No, we’re going to watch the Colts because we have no choice. Because we’re stuck. We’re at the mercy of an incompetent franchise, making one incompetent decision after another, and always at the worst possible time.