Pat McAfee takes aim at the Colts in brutal takedown

Indianapolis Colts alumn Pat McAfee has not been a stranger to feuds with his former team, erupting into online battles with linebacker and team captain Zaire Franklin after the latter criticized media treatment of the team, and quarterback Anthony Richardson in particular. The two seemed to have buried the hatchet, but McAfee may have just dug it back up with his response to the Colts' humiliating loss to the Denver Broncos.

McAfee was inevitably going to respond to the game, which likely destroyed any chance the Colts had of getting into the playoffs, and he held nothing back. Once again, McAfee argued that the culture of the team is to blame.

"Everybody that talked about all the situations that had happened inside the Indianapolis Colts building, all we were doing is people that have been there are just pointing out like, hey, this isn't what good teams do," he said, echoing his previous criticism. "These aren't things that good teams do, you know, late meetings, missing treatment, not working hard, tapping out of games -- like, all these things are just things that good teams don't do."

While he said he understood why Franklin took umbrage to that, McAfee said he's always still rooting for the Colts to be successful. And now, he said the bigger problem may not be the players -- it's everyone else.

Who is the real problem?

"This Colts team has all the talent on Earth," he said. "They've paid so many people. They've been around a very long time. But all the little things that they view as little things are very important to the entirety of your program. And, you know, when somebody drops a ball, what, half a yard, quarter of a yard from the end zone when you're about to change the game entirely after a freak show run?"

But, he reiterated, the issue is not one of how talented the guys on the Colts' roster are.

"Once again, talent out the a**," McAfee said. "This run is so good against a very good Denver Broncos defense. Jonathan Taylor pulls away, shake offensive line, sets up a hole. They're there because of a big play that got him there. And for him just to drop the ball, you know, half yard line before getting in and rolls out of bounds for a touchback. Look at the score, look at the situation and look what ends up happening.

"It's like all those little things add up and it shows up when it shows up," he continued. "You never know when it's going to come. And when did it happen to come? Oh, in the second half of a must-win game. And then what to do? Well, it swung the momentum completely. 24-0 the Broncos would go on to finish that game against the Indianapolis Colts. And it's like it's not just the drop of the ball. It's all the things that kind of indicate that this type of thing was coming, that was taking place, that I chatted about.

"Now, with that being said, the talent in there is insane. I mean, Zaire started out, he had a pick, he had a sack, he was going crazy. He has EJ Speed flying around, murdering somebody. Anthony Richardson, tough to tackle, this guy's throwing people off him. He's sacked, he's not sacked. Jonathan Taylor doing his thing, offensive line making holes. AD Mitchell, let's not let him throw anymore. But all these things are happening. It's like talent, talent, talent, talent, talent. But it's very obvious that something is missing behind the scenes. And I think it's like the attention to detail. And it's like the attention to detail is all of those things that I just talked about. It's not just dropping a ball half a yard before the end zone. It's like a culture thing that I think has to take place. And are these the guys that will get it done? Maybe. Hopefully the offseason will be something where they'll be able to figure it out and buy in, because it would be great, and they could be great. And it's just now we're staring down the Houston Texans going back-to-back, and us still not winning a division since 2014 with basically all of our pillar positions in place."

Time to start over

Fans have been clamoring to clean house in the Colts' front office, getting rid of Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen, and Gus Bradley as a means of reinvigorating this Indianapolis team. As McAfee pointed out, there is no shortage of talent on the roster, so why is the team not successful?

The issue is not the players; it's the team managing them. Steichen and Bradley are failing as coaches, and Ballard's tenure has been hallmarked by nothing but failure. No one on this team can be successful when - as McAfee said - the culture of the team just isn't there. Whose job is it to demand discipline? Whose job is it to call plays that are tailored to the talent of their players? Whose job is it to ensure there is proper depth across the board?

That's not on Anthony Richardson, or Jonathan Taylor, or Zaire Franklin, or anyone else. That's on the coaches and the front office. The Colts' playoff hopes are over, and the coaches' and managers' career should be, too.