Let's be clear: The Indianapolis Colts must make changes after the season, assuming that Indy misses the playoffs again. The team is now 8-6 with three games left, all against teams that have very good chances to make the postseason. Indy's injury situation might make winning any of the games remaining very unlikely.
If Indianapolis goes from a 7-1 start to an overall final record of 8-9, something has to happen. Injuries can only be so much of an excuse. But head coach Shane Steichen shouldn't be one of the employees who receives a pink slip.
Steichen's offense has lost the steam it had earlier in the season, and his use of running back Jonathan Taylor can be called into question, but he's done enough to prove he needs to stick with the Colts. One of his issues, however, is in how he handles questions.
Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen finds the wrong words
The head coach doesn't give much inflection when answering reporters' questions. That is fine; that isn't his main job. But he can also be less than fully open when answering queries about injuries, which can often seem misleading.
What he also lacks is a way of making fans feel better about a struggling Colts team. Indianapolis has lost five of six games and faces three more brutal matchups before the end of the regular season. Even if Indianapolis were fully healthy, games against the San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans will be difficult.
But be honest about how poorly the season has gone since the hot start after eight games is only fair to the people who truly pay the team's bills: Indianapolis fans. Maybe the Colts have injury excuses, but the truth is that things were starting to go poorly even before Daniel Jones, DeForest Buckner, and others were injured.
So when Shane Steichen answers a question with "very encouraged. I'm very encouraged" about his team's current status, that is frustrating. The NFL offers no moral victories. Losing to a good Seattle Seahawks team in Week 15 is understandable, but it also puts the team one step closer to missing the playoffs for the fifth-straight season (and ninth in 11).
Currently, no encouragement is found. The team has lost four straight. Any win would make Indianapolis Colts fans feel better, but seven-straight losses to end the season could become a reality. At that point, tough changes will need to be made, or fans will have the right to feel enraged.