Colts need to be more mentally tough

One of the biggest reasons that the Colts are sitting at home right now is because they were not mentally tough when hard situations arose.

The Colts lost a bunch of one-score games this season. They lost five games by seven points or less in 2019. Some of that comes down to bad luck, while most of it comes down to the fact that the Colts weren’t mentally tough down the stretch of games.

It was apparent in these close games that a young team didn’t have a steadying veteran presence that could calm them down and execute. This was especially true on the offensive side. T.Y. Hilton would’ve been that presence, but he was hurt most of the year.

The lack of mental toughness was not more apparent than in the game against the Dolphins. This was a team that had just got their first win of the entire season the week before. They were not a good team, and the Colts had no business losing to that team.

Frank Reich has always preached toughness and discipline for his team. While his team didn’t commit a lot of penalties, they couldn’t rise up when they needed to the most. That will have to change in 2020 if they want to get back to more winning ways.

Signing more veterans in free agency can help with that. Chris Ballard admitted that he overlooked the value of such veterans in his post-season press conference. I think he will learn from that mistake and will sign veterans who can help the team on the field and in the locker room.

None of this can be fixed with a single move, but Ballard will try his best to get what the team needs to be more successful.