The Colts have officially arrived at rock bottom
After losing to the New England Patriots on Sunday the way they did, things can’t get any worse this season for the Indianapolis Colts.
If anyone entered Week 9 thinking things couldn’t get worse for the Indianapolis Colts, they were certainly proven wrong. In a season that has been embarrassing from the start, Indy had arguably its worst outing on Sunday against the New England Patriots, losing 26-3. As Indianapolis has done all season, it started the game really slowly, however, the team was never able to get things rolling in the slightest.
In Sam Ehlinger’s second start, he was abused by the Patriots’ defense just about every time he dropped back to pass. He was sacked a total of nine times for a loss of 60 yards. What made the situation extremely embarrassing is that the offensive line was getting beaten with simple twist stunts. New England repeatedly ran the same defensive line stunt and forced the Colts to stop it. As evidenced by Indy’s offensive output, Indianapolis could not stop it.
Ehlinger ultimately finished the game completing 15-of-29 passes for 103 yards and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. The offense as a whole had another forgetful performance putting up just 121 yards and going 0-14 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down attempts.
In all fairness to the defense, they played a solid game as they attempted to keep things close. The defense limited the Patriots to 203 total yards, allowed just one touchdown, and forced a turnover.
Where do the Colts go from here?
Typically, when someone hits the bottom, the saying is, you can only go up from here. Well, that’s not the case in Indianapolis. While improvement is possible, and even the playoffs since the Colts are just 3-5-1 and it’s Week 9, any lingering hope that fans were holding on to officially evaporated Sunday. It was pretty clear before but it became solidified on Sunday: Indianapolis is a bad team in really bad shape.
From the offense that can’t get rolling to a special teams unit that had a blocked punt and missed field goal, to the many players that are battling through injury, there isn’t a path for improvement for Indianapolis. Surely the Colts will try to remain competitive but the rest of the season will be about detailing a plan for the offseason.
The remaining eight games will essentially be an evaluation period for everyone on the team. Indianapolis will learn what positions they need to attack in the draft and free agency and what players the team will move on from. While the team may not be planning to tank, their plans won’t matter because the level of play from this team will ensure a high draft pick.
