Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman DeForest Buckner deserves better. He's played too long and too well with Indy to keep sitting at home when the playoffs start every season. He knows it too.
After Indianapolis's sickening loss to the previously winless Tennessee Titans in Week 6, Buckner wasn't so much angry as bemused by the defeat. He was clear about how he felt about the constant falling short every season, though.
"I’m sick and tired of the same song and dance every year," Buckner said, according to The Athletic's James Boyd.
DeForest Buckner's frustration mirrors the feeling of Indianapolis Colts fans everywhere
Colts fans are right along with him. Every season, general manager Chris Ballard says that the team is progressing in the correct direction and that things will improve. He gets credit from some national pundits for solid drafts, but he keeps whiffing on two of the most important spots: Quarterback and edge rusher.
Ballard has been on his job since 2017, and the team has made the playoffs twice. With most other franchises, Ballard would have already lost his job. Instead, a handful of times he speaks with the media and apologizes to fans about what is happening, and the rest of the time he talks as if he has won the AFC South and a bunch of playoff games. He's never done either of those things.
As for head coach Shane Steichen, his robotic answers about injuries and his stances on players as long ago grown old. His answers might be passable if he wasn't three games under .500 during his Indy tenure. What's worse is that he is 7-25 against teams that are .500 or better. That is more than enough sample size to prove Steichen shouldn't be a head coach.
He might make some team a very good offensive coordinator next season, but he is simply a glorified OC with the Indianapolis Colts. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo obviously has full control over his side of the ball because Ballard keeps signing his former players from his Cincinnati Bengals days, but without any success in Indianapolis.
The organization is simply a mess from the general manager down. The team is stuck in mediocrity, which is the worst place a team could be. Not that the 2027 NFL Draft is going to give much reason for high-end hope. Ballard traded the first-round pick to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner last season.
But again, Buckner, who is once again having a fantastic season with four sacks, four tackles for loss, and eight quarterback hits in six games, deserves better. He likely won't play for many more seasons, and leaving with a Chris Ballard-led Colts organization is unfair to the defensive lineman.
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