Andrew Luck let hundreds of millions of dollars in NFL contracts behind when he announced his retirement at age 29 in 2019. That handed the reins to Jacoby Brissett, who got the team out to a 5-2 start, got hurt in game seven and hasn’t looked the same since.
Brissett’s inability to seize control in the middle of a power vacuum has left the Colts’ offense to twist in the wind. Indianapolis has fielded top 10 defenses in two of the last three seasons. It has zero playoff wins to show for it. This is a function of the underwhelming quarterback play that looks great on paper but crumbles under actual observation.
First up after Brissett came Philip Rivers, who mostly did Philip Rivers things:
Philip Rivers with the legendary pursuit here pic.twitter.com/PECSQHdQH9
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 8, 2019
Since it was Philip Rivers, it ended in moderate success and ultimate heartbreak. He retired in 2021 rather than try to build on a playoff season, likely because he was 39 years old but possibly because he sensed the team’s ceiling.
That gave way to Carson Wentz, who was much more disappointing en route to vomiting down his own shirt with a playoff berth on the line in a Week 18 loss to the worst team in football. He was shipped out of town without a backup plan, then eventually replaced by Matt Ryan.
Matt Ryan has proudly upheld this recent Colts tradition. By which I mean he’s awful and lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ryan got boat-raced by the Jags, throwing three interceptions in a 24-0 loss that even the most optimistic Colts fan will struggle with. His mistakes weren’t tip-drill balls batted in the air and a circumstance of unfortunate luck. Ryan’s arm looked like a late-stage veteran a la 2021 Ben Roethlisberger or 2020 Drew Brees — and even they may not have looked this bad:
OCHO CISCO@andrecisco7 | #DUUUVAL#INDvsJAX on CBS pic.twitter.com/POw1a2qG40
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 18, 2022
There’s not many outcomes a game like this — 16-30, 195 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions — can lead to for a 37-year-old passer whose QBR has steadily declined since his 2016 MVP campaign. Either he’s hurt but playing through pain in hopes of reinventing himself (and because his backup is Nick Foles and we’ve seen how that goes outside of Philly) or his arm strength has waned to the point where he can no longer make the throws he used to but his game hasn’t adjusted accordingly.
He’s coming off a Week 1 tie in which he threw for a league-high 352 yards but needed 50 passes to get there — his 7.0 yards per attempt ranked 18th in the league, just ahead of Geno Smith. On Sunday, he was roughly as damaging to his team as Trevor Lawrence was valuable for the Jaguars, according to the wonderful RBSDM.com’s advanced stats machine.
This is awful news for Indianapolis. Ryan is under contract through 2023. $18 million of his $35 million salary is on the Colts’ books next season no matter what. Would he stick around to mentor a young first round quarterback next fall if he continues to struggle and the team craters? Would he retire? Would Chris Ballard dump him off on the Washington Commanders because that’s, somehow, a viable option?
I have no idea. I just know that Matt Ryan’s Week 2 performance suggests the Indianapolis Colts will be searching for a new Week 1 starter in 2023 for the sixth straight year.
