The Indianapolis Colts are reeling. After a 7-1 start, Indy has lost three of four and is now in second place in the AFC South. The team could get back to first with a victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 14, but we aren't there yet, and it won't be easy.
What has happened in Indianapolis? Injuries have certainly taken a toll, especially defensively. Cornerback Sauce Gardner was the latest to be hit with an injury after he suffered what was initially deemed a calf issue. He might miss a couple of games.
Quarterback Daniel Jones has been playing with a fractured fibula, whether the team confirms that or not, and that has limited his movement. But as Jones admitted after the team's Week 13 loss to the Houston Texans, players being hurt is not the only reason for the recent problems.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones drops meaningless words about latest loss
Execution and offensive play-calling have been a problem, too. What is more maddening is that the Colts have the best running back in the NFL, and in most of the recent losses, head coach Shane Steichen has refused to use him as much. With a banged-up quarterback, it would make sense to run more, not less. Doing the reverse is illogical.
But after dropping Week 13 to Houston, Jones delivered the words that are getting tiresome. He said, "It’s not always going to happen exactly how you draw it up, and you’ve gotta be able to make plays and make it work. So, I think we gotta find a way to do that. It’s critical in these games, and (we) haven’t been able to do it well enough."
Right. Tell Colts fans something we don't know, though. Maybe it is unfair to ask Jones to give some deep reasoning for Indianapolis's recent bad stretch. That is not how he or Shane Steichen operates. Still, it would be nice to have some kind of emotional reaction that Indy fans can relate to.
Fans want the truth, not meaningless cliches. That implies the team doesn't truly know how to fix its current problems. Maybe Steichen doesn't. After all, knowing Daniel Jones is playing with a broken leg and relying on heavy use of him to win games isn't good.
Opponents might be starting to align and scheme differently in order to try to stop Jonathan Taylor, but Taylor's excellence is nothing new. Teams have known how good he was for the last seven years.
The running back often gets better in the second half of games, too, but Steichen is using him less in that situation (only seven total times in Week 12's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and just once in the fourth quarter). Instead of a bunch of nonsense words, maybe what the Indianapolis Colts need to do is get back to basics and give the ball to Taylor a lot more.