The Indianapolis Colts, in typical fashion, blew an early double-digit lead to division rival Jacksonville in a meaningless game. The Colts were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday when Houston dispatched the L.A. Chargers on the road. The Colts’ 23-17 loss to Jacksonville marks their sixth consecutive defeat and brings Shane Steichen’s record against the Jaguars to 1-5 in his tenure.
A tenure that will now be discussed yet again at the end of the season. Let’s give Steichen some credit; the man is a true football junkie and is an elite play caller. However, being an elite play caller does not always translate to being a great head coach.
The discussion about his tenure this time around will be done by the new ownership group led by Carli Irsay-Gordon. Rest assured that Shane Steichen won’t be the only franchise staff member to have their fate decided next week. The entire front office staff will have to be looked at, and it begins with general manager Chris Ballard.
The Ballard Tenure
It has been nine seasons now for Ballard, and his record is a wildly mediocre 70-76-1. With this season nearly complete, this clinches another season without an AFC South title. That brings the total number of AFC South titles in the Ballard regime to ZERO.
That’s right, in the nine-year regime, this franchise has ZERO division titles. They have one playoff win in 2018 and an appearance in 2020. It’s an unacceptable record, and somehow this man is still employed with this organization. I cannot think of any other franchise where this type of mediocrity would be tolerated.
For those who have read my content for any length of time, you know I have generally stayed neutral regarding Chris Ballard. I’m not one of his, but I also understand the difficult circumstances he has had to deal with. He lost a franchise quarterback in his prime and was tasked with “cleaning up” the mess left by former GM Ryan Grigson. That mess doesn’t look so bad now.
When Is Enough, Enough?
Does Ballard take all the blame for this season? Of course not, but it’s hard to argue that his fingerprints are not all over it. After one of the best starts in franchise history, we are now seeing one of the worst finishes in franchise history.
A finish that is still being written, but poor nonetheless. A finish where the best solution for the Colts’ brain trust after losing quarterback Daniel Jones was to bring in future Hall of Famer Philip Rivers. And yes, I was ecstatic to see him playing again and, to be completely honest, he exceeded expectations. For a 44-year-old quarterback to get off his couch after 5 years and perform at that level gained even more respect.
While bringing in Rivers was fun and likely kept some ticket holders entertained, it showed the true faults of Chris Ballard. It was a tough circumstance yet again after Jones went down. They chose player development over it, and while I cannot fault them, it did not work.
The front office failed (again) to properly develop the quarterback, and instead of bringing along rookie Riley Leonard, they opted for Rivers. Of course, they had Anthony Richardson as well, but another injury kept that disaster off the field as well.
While we are on the subject of Ballard draft picks. If you want to dig a bit deeper, you will find rather numbing statistics. Of the fourteen top 100 picks the Colts made from 2021-2024, six are no longer with the organization, and one is the backup quarterback. Let that marinate for a bit.
What I Think Will Happen Next Week
There is plenty more I could mention about Ballard for this season, but the development of talent (or lack thereof) sticks out the most. The Sauce Gardner trade has not worked out the way we were hoping. However, if he didn’t make that trade, he would have been crucified for not making a deal at the deadline.
Did Ballard give up too much in the deal? Looking back on it now, he likely did. At that moment, however, it was the right move as Jones was heading towards an extension and the secondary desperately needed reinforcements.
The trade will have time to correct itself, and if Jones returns and plays at a high level, it could still bear fruit. All trades in any sports league are risky, but they have to play out before the true grade is known.
As for what I think will likely happen in the coming weeks. I think many believe Ballard has overstayed his welcome, and I think the daughters will finally decide to move on from him. As for Steichen, I think he proved he can coach the talent on the field and keep them competitive, but it might be time for some new talent evaluation at a minimum.
Firing Ballard and allowing the next GM to decide Steichen’s fate seems to be the right course of action, a big-picture decision that will be the first of many for the daughters of Jim Irsay — the former owner, who did not like change and was sometimes nostalgic to a fault. How the daughters handle their first major test will truly show their intentions for the present and future of this franchise.
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