A unique stat further shows just how disappointing it was for the Indianapolis Colts to miss the playoffs.
It has been a rough time for fans of the Indianapolis Colts. When hopes were extremely high, the team had an epic collapse and failed to make the postseason.
While fans are still recovering from the massive disappointment, end-of-year stats are coming out and they only make the Colts look worse.
While the stats are actually impressive for Indy, the reality of producing these stats and missing the playoffs is just a reminder of how the Colts choked.
The stat that has represented that reality recently is how Indianapolis compares to the two No. 1 seeds in terms of time leading this season.
Strange but true...
— Paul Hembekides (@PaulHembo) January 12, 2022
The Colts, who missed the playoffs, played more minutes with a lead this season (562) than the Packers (521) or Titans (490), the number 1 seeds.
That's crazy.
Colts spent more time leading than both No. 1 seeds
This stat could be viewed as an irrelevant advanced stat, but it highlights a bunch of problems that Indianapolis has. The biggest problem is, this is a quality team that didn’t make the playoffs.
But also, it shows that, for some reason, Indy can’t consistently close out games.
The Colts held significant leads this season over the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Las Vegas Raiders. All games that Indianapolis lost.
One reason why could be Indy’s fourth-quarter defense. The Colts rank 29th in the NFL, allowing 8.6 points a game in the fourth quarter.
In other words, when opposing teams needed points against Indy’s defense, they often got them. That was demonstrated in the Raiders game.
As for the offense, they are 18th in the NFL with 6.3 fourth-quarter points per game, which isn’t bad. It’s about on par with how much Indy scores in every other quarter. 6.3 in the first, 7.5 in the second, and 6.4 in the third.
The offense does remain around its average, but when teams are threatening and cutting into the lead, Indianapolis has to be able to drive down and score points when they need to.
Just as the Colts struggled to close out the season, they struggled to close out games. When the team returns for camp next season, finishing strong has to be a philosophy the entire team adopts.
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