Woulda, coulda, shoulda. That is what 31 teams look back at the end of the season if it doesn’t end in a Super Bowl win.
This is especially true for the franchises that didn’t even get into the playoffs. That was the case for the Indianapolis Colts.
In a season that was supposed to be the one they finally won the AFC South in 2014 ended up being a roller coaster ride that ended in embarrassment with how things came unglued at the end of the year.
Let’s take a look at the reasons why Indy missed the postseason:
1
Another Slow Start
One of the common themes during the Frank Reich era was that they would come out of the gates slow to start the season and it wasn’t any different in 2022. In a game that most thought Indianapolis would end their drought of not winning a season opener ended in a tie with the Houston Texans. That was followed up with a trip to Jacksonville and in typical fashion for Indy, it was a brutal performance by the team in a 24-0 loss.
Indy would end up shocking everyone by beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the following week but followed that up with a loss to their divisional rival, the Tennessee Titans. The Colts started the first four weeks in a hole that they had to climb out of. To their credit, they would up getting over .500 but that still wasn’t enough to save people’s jobs.
A win at least against the Texans and Jaguars could’ve put them at a 3-1 record to start the season and you can’t help but wonder if Frank Reich would still be coaching the team if they at least started the year off on a good note.
2
Blowing up the operation
Despite the slow start to the season, the Colts were still in the thick of things come late October. Indianapolis would end up getting swept by the Titans for the second season in a row to fall to a 3-3-1 record. While as disappointing as a loss was for the franchise, there was still plenty of season left for the team to find a rhythm and make a push for the playoffs but that was the moment when the roller coaster ride hit the organization.
Jim Irsay would end up going over his head coach’s head and forcing him to bench Matt Ryan for Sam Ehlinger. Then in the following weeks the Colts would end up letting go of Marcus Brady and Frank Reich then shocked the world by hiring Jeff Saturday as the interim head coach.
While there is a level of understanding that Reich needed to put together a playoff run to keep his job, the timing of the decision to bench Ryan and fire Reich was a bit off considering the team had a .500 record when the decision was made to pull the plug on the operation.
3
Turning the ball over too much
Matt Ryan getting benched might’ve been a way-too-early call but he certainly played his way into that decision. He was turning the ball over at an alarming rate, which was a surprise because Ryan was supposed to bring the offense some stability by protecting the ball. It wasn’t just Ryan who was at fault for the Colts’ turnovers in 2022.
Whether it was Ryan or a skill position player, nobody on the team could hold on to the ball this season. It felt like anytime the offense would cross midfield they would find some way to shoot themselves in the foot with a turnover. Indianapolis lost 14 fumbles and threw 20 interceptions while having the worst turnover differential (-13) in the NFL.
If the Colts would’ve been able to not give away the ball so much then they likely don’t have had the slow start they had and the decision to bench Ryan started off the roller coaster ride may have never happened.
4
Poor play by the offensive line
One of the factors that did lead to the turnovers by Matt Ryan was that he was under constant duress. The offensive line failed to give him any time to sit back and make his reads. The Colts line gave up 60 sacks in 2022, which was the second most in the NFL. Pass protection wasn’t the only issue for the offensive line, they also couldn’t open up rushing lanes for the running backs.
In 2021, Indianapolis averaged 149.4 rushing yards per game, which was the second most in the league. In 2022, that number dropped all the way down to 109.8 rushing yards per game. The offensive line did see some slight improvement toward the end of the year but it was too late by then. The decision to have Matt Pryor at left tackle and Danny Pinter at right guard to start the season ended up being a costly one.
5
Down year for Jonathan Taylor
Jonathan Taylor was what made the offense run in 2021 but that wasn’t the case for 2022. It looked like we were going to see the same Taylor this past season with his 161 rushing-yard performance in the season opener but he would fail to get over 100 rushing yards until the Week 10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Taylor’s down year was due to the offensive line with their struggles opening up lanes for him and the ankle injury that he suffered in the first loss to the Titans. He would end up missing two weeks but when he returned you could tell that he was still battling with how his ankle was treating him.
Eventually, he looked like himself in that game against the Raiders and it appeared that the injury was behind him but he would only end up playing two snaps against the Minnesota Vikings before he ended up reaggravating his ankle injury.
That would end up with him getting placed on the injured reserve lsit and putting an official end to his 2022 season. The Colts now will have to utilize the offseason to allow Taylor to get his ankle healthy and fix the issues that they had with the rushing attack this past year.
