Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen tried to explain what went wrong after Sunday’s disappointing loss to the New York Giants, which eliminated the team from playoff contention. However, his answers only raised more questions.
With his starting quarterback injured again and the defense struggling, Steichen had a hard time explaining the 45-33 defeat and what could be done to fix it.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve got to play a complete game, we haven’t done it all year. We’ve all got to be on the same page. That (performance) is not good enough.”
Changes are likely to be needed, as the team has now missed the playoffs for four years in a row.
Steichen hadn’t mentioned Anthony Richardson’s back injury until it appeared on the injury report on Wednesday. At that time, Steichen called it back soreness. When Richardson was ruled out on Saturday, fans started to wonder if this situation was similar to the game where Richardson left because he was tired.
Steichen cleared things up after the game, explaining that the spasms Richardson was experiencing were severe, and they needed to protect the 22-year-old quarterback. This led to 39-year-old Joe Flacco starting the must-win game.
Richardson’s absence wasn’t the Colts’ biggest problem. However, the way things played out led some fans and former players like Pat McAfee to question whether the Colts’ locker room culture needs to change, especially when it came to players being late for meetings and injury treatments.
“I think with any team not everyone’s going to be on time every time, but there is accountability and guys are held to a standard,” Steichen said Monday.
“When the standard is getting in the playoffs, it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to a lot of people, myself included, and that’s why we talk about the standard being raised so we’re not in these situations.”
The game on Sunday exposed many issues for the Colts (7-9).
They got off to a slow start, couldn’t stop the Giants, who have the league’s lowest-scoring offense, and allowed a 100-yard kickoff return at the start of the second half. This left the Colts in a 28-13 deficit, killing any chance of a second-half comeback.
There were also questions about Steichen’s play-calling for the second time in three weeks.
On third-and-long, the Colts ran the ball instead of passing, then sent kicker Matt Gay to attempt a 54-yard field goal that missed. Jonathan Taylor failed to convert a fourth-and-1 play, dropped the ball on a trick play for a 2-point conversion that would have tied the score, and had a possible touchdown pass bounce off his helmet because he wasn’t looking.
But the biggest issue was the defense, which allowed 45 points in such an important game. One thing is clear: changes are coming.
“The offense scored 33 points, and we couldn’t stop a nosebleed on defense. That’s very frustrating,” Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said Monday. “Like I said, this offseason, there’s going to be some changes and some of those changes are going to be uncomfortable for people.
There are going to be some uncomfortable conversations, and we’re going to make those changes for the better.”
