The only clowns who showed up to this game was us. I got one word to describe this game. Pathetic. I’ve seen a lot of lousy coaching performances, but this one will stick out like a sore thumb. For two weeks, all we needed to do was win. We needed to win 1 of those games, and we won neither. It’s embarrassing. I’m sick. The Jaguars last week lost by 40 points. They put 26 on our heads and blew us out. It was embarrassing to watch. To quote Jim Mora “What’s that? Ah – Playoffs? Don’t talk about – playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!”
This game was doomed from the start. The game started with the defense looking sluggish. That sluggish start carried over to the offensive side of the ball. This game started very similarly to how the Raider game started the week prior—giving up anything and everything the Jaguars wanted. You have to get off the field on third down. You especially have to get off the field on third and long. Neither of those happened today. The offense looked sluggish. The defense looked sluggish. Back to back like Drake, this team came out sluggish, and it showed on both sides of the ball.
My keys of the game were to make Trevor Lawrence uncomfortable , special teams, RTDB, and win the turnover battle. The Colts did none of that. Trevor Lawrence all year has looked like a draft bust, but the Colts’ secondary made him look like a seasoned All-Pro veteran of the game. I Couldn’t tell if I was watching a rookie quarterback or a damn MVP. When you get down early, you go away from the run. That’s exactly what happened with the Colts today. They panicked when things went south, and they went away from Taylor. They told Carson Wentz to be something he’s not. And he failed at it. They didn’t play Colts football today. This team didn’t want it. It was embarrassing to watch, and I’m sure it was just as embarrassing for them to be a part of.
This loss can’t be blamed on any specific though. Win as a team, lose as a team. Carson Wentz will eat up a lot of the blame. He’s not the only one at fault. Receivers weren’t getting separation. When they did get separation, the offensive line struggled and didn’t hold the blocks long enough for a play to develop. The Colts’ strength all year has been running the ball and fantastic offensive line play. Neither of those happened against the Jaguars. The defensive line didn’t show up either. There was no pass rush, disrupting the pocket, or anything like that. Lawrence had all day to throw the ball. When the Colts did get to him, he would escape or throw it away—poor coaching from both Reich and Eberflus. I felt the offense lacked all game; it was a flawed scheme all around. I felt the defensive plan was doomed to fail in the beginning when they gave up multiple 3rd and longs to open the game. But I felt Eberflus made adjustments or something changed to wake up the defense in the second half. It was a noticeably different defense coming out of the half.
Following the loss to the Jaguars, the Colts still had a chance to make the playoffs. Ultimately it didn’t pan out for the Colts. We didn’t deserve to get into the playoffs, though. Something isn’t working. A team with 7 Pro Bowlers shouldn’t be struggling to make the playoffs. It just wasn’t the Colts’ year this year. The future still looks bright in Indianapolis. We’ve got to go through the struggles before we can finish the climb.
Miley said it best “always going to be an uphill battle; sometimes I’m gonna have to lose, ain’t about how fast I get there, it’s the climb.” The journey continues.
Black Monday is coming, and if there was a game that warranted change, it was this game. Eberflus may be out of a job soon. Marcus Brady may be out of a job soon, unlikely but a possibility. I think we’re going to see Frank back next year and I think that’s a good thing. I do believe Frank is the right guy for this team. I always felt with Chuck Pagano; he wasn’t the guy. I don’t get that feeling with Reich. I expect significant changes from this team in the off-season after this game. I expect another weapon for Wentz to be added to the offense. I expect Chris Ballard to target a tackle and pass rusher in the offseason.
This isn’t how the Colts wanted to finish the year. There’s a lot of positives that came out this year. Ya-Sin looks like a CB1, Kwity Paye and Dayo will be a problem, JT is a beast, and ultimately this team can beat playoff teams. This loss is going to sting for a long time, but we can’t just forget everything we’ve accomplished because of a couple of bad games.
Blue Stable MVP
N/A? To quote Alicia Keys “No one, No one, No one” I genuinely feel no player earned this award to close out the year in the finale. How about we do something we haven’t done this year. The Blue Stable MVP for week 18 is Jim Irsay. It’s Mr Irsay for not cleaning house after this disgrace for the game. If we have to call it a player maybe Sam Ehlinger? For not being apart of the loss on the field? Anyone who didn’t step foot on the field? Maybe PittMAN for bringing some kind of juice to the team?
