Losing their third consecutive game Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts offense seems to have found a new low point in the 26-3 drubbing against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Going against Bill Belichick’s defense with a young, inexperienced quarterback was never going to be an easy task, but this unit seemingly had no chance of competing as soon as they stepped onto the field.
Here’s what the Colts had to say after the 26-3 loss in Week 9:
Frank Reich's opening statement
Frank Reich: “Injuries, Jelani Woods had a shoulder. Disappointed, it was a poor performance, especially on offense. You know, we’ll go back. All we can do is – each person has to go back. Starting with me, right? That’s what I said in the locker room. The offensive performance, that’s why I was brought here. That’s my responsibility. So we got the players. We’ve got the players that are plenty good enough. I have to do a better job. It starts with me on offense. I need to do a better job getting the guys ready to play, putting guys in a good position to win and having answers when we face problems.
You know, I thought the defense played well. Special teams has been great all year. Obviously, had the blocked punt. That was a big play so maybe not the best day there. But overall for the year, special teams has been good. But, ultimately, all you can do is go back and look at each play, play-by-play. Obviously, I haven’t seen film yet. Obviously, it’s going to be hard to comment too much on the specifics. But offensively, it starts with me.”
Evaluating the QB position
Frank Reich: “You know, every day you’re trying to make the right decisions to get better. Every decision is what’s best for the team. Those decisions can’t get weighed in a day or a week. They have to get weighed over time.
Everything gets evaluated but to say would we look at anyone else, I can’t say that right now. I have to go back and look. Like I said, it’s hard for me to look at anybody else right now. I just felt like I’ve got to do a better job. I’ve got to do a better job.”
Never as far off as you think
Frank Reich: “I – listen, my experience tells me – and I know this doesn’t carry any weight out there, but you’re never as far off as you think. I don’t care what anybody says. I’ve been around too long. So you start play-by-play, coach-by-coach, player-by-player, trying to make the right decisions, trying to make the right adjustments, trying to find ways to get better.”
Finding answers to offensive woes
Frank Reich: “I always believe we’re going to find them. I mean, shoot, I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve been through some rough seasons before as a player and as a coach. And I know, I believe, there’s answers out there. I mean, that’s why as coaches and players we do what we do. And you always have – the competitor in you knows that there’s answers. The competitor in you knows that it’s not that far off. So keep fighting and scratching.”
Did not anticipate Sunday's struggles
Frank Reich: “I mean, if we’re going two games with Sam – you know, listen, you know who’s going to come up – it’s going to be hard coming up here in Foxborough against Bill Belichick and against this defense. You know, I certainly did not anticipate today. I really didn’t. I mean, I was really anticipating good things. I think we all were. But I think that’s why we’re wired like we’re wired. That’s why we do what we do. Because we believe. We believe in what we’re doing, we believe in who we’re doing it with. And so we fight, we scratch, we claw. And sometimes it works out for you and sometimes it doesn’t. But you keep fighting.”
Allowing nine sacks
Frank Reich: “Yeah, I can’t – I mean, I understand that’s the big number. I got to look at it. You know, was I putting them in the right position? Are we giving them the work that they need to be ready for that? You know, was the ball coming out to the right place on time? Were the receivers – it’s everything. I’m not going to put it on the O-line. You know, I’ve been in games where we had nine sacks before as a player and as a coach and then you turn it around. So I’m going to believe we can figure that out.”
Unacceptable on offense
Sam Ehlinger: “I mean, that’s an offense that’s unacceptable. Our defense kept us in the game. And we didn’t do anything out there to help them out. They were playing their tails off and couldn’t get anything going in every phase.”
What Sam Ehlinger can do better
Sam Ehlinger: “A lot. I mean, everybody’s going to look at the nine sacks and think, “Oh, that’s on the offensive line.” And it’s on everybody. You know, route disciplines, route spacing. For me, getting the ball out on time, taking
checkdowns when they’re there, not holding on too long. I thought, you know, there were a handful of them that were on me. And it sucks because they’re going to take the heat for that. But, you know, it’s on everybody as an
offense. When you’re running the ball well, they don’t know when you’re going to be in a passing situation all the time. That helps them out. When you’re on the right route disciplines, you’re on the timing as a quarterback and the ball’s coming out of your hand, the defense can’t tee up. Yes, that’s the stat that everybody’s going to point at. But it’s not representative of – it’s not all on the offensive line.”
Pulling the trigger
Sam Ehlinger: “Well, I need to look back at the film. And you know there’s some smart players over there. And absolutely. Got to pull the trigger. You know, you can’t get timid. You can’t start worrying about what’s going to happen if you let it rip. You just got to let it rip. Especially in a game like that. So, yeah, absolutely.”
Nowhere to go but up
Parris Campbell: “There is nowhere to go but up. We can’t get any worse. We have to keep practicing, studying film and getting better.”
Patriots wait on your mistakes
Stephon Gilmore: “They are well coached, they don’t make mistakes. You got to beat them if you want to win. They have good talent. They wait on you to make mistakes and they did that today.”
Executing on offense
Deon Jackson: “We have to execute better. We just have to execute. The game is over now. We have to look at the film and make corrections on the stuff we have to fix and just move on to the next week.”
Hung the defense out to dry
Ryan Kelly: “We missed assignments. The chances that we had, we were one guy away from a good run game. They are a good front seven, they pride themselves on stopping the run. The game got to the point where we were living in second-and-long, third-and-long and they knew we were passing the ball. We weren’t able to put drives together and we hung our defense out to dry. It was as bad as I can ever remember.”
Holding each other accountable
Quenton Nelson: “We have to protect better. We need to perform better offensively. I mean, going from week to week hearing the defensive players saying they have our backs. They’ve been holding teams to field goals and getting turnovers but we haven’t helped them. We have to figure it out offensively and it starts with the film and holding each other accountable.”
