Five games into the season and the Colts are 2-2-1. Not exactly how they drew it up. Matt Ryan has looked old and had a case of the butterfingers. Also, not ideal. League-leading rusher a year ago Jonathan Taylor? Not off to a great start either. But one thing we were told not to worry about, that Colts fans thought they could bank on as a position group, a strength of the team, was the offensive line.
Needless to say, they’ve been an unmitigated disaster through the first five games of the season and the biggest reason this offense has failed to generate much excitement. They’ve allowed a league-high 21 sacks in five games. Matt Ryan’s career-high is 48, which he took in 2019 in 15 games. At this rate, Ryan will be sacked over 70 times in the 17-game schedule if that rate continues.
Jonathan Taylor, who led the league in rushing last year, has just 328 yards and one touchdown on the 2022 season. The Colts rank 26th in rushing yards per game and 27th in yards per rush. On a short week where the team didn’t practice at all ahead of their game against the Denver Broncos, the Colts turned their offensive line upside down by moving Matt Pryor from left to right tackle, inserting the rookie Bernhard Raimann at left tackle. It was a wild decision to make even on a regular week, let alone a short week with zero practice.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and no one would have guessed the most expensive offensive line in the NFL would be needing to play musical chairs five games in. It’s like re-arranging chairs on the Titanic at this point. The team seemingly has refused to address left tackle, even when Anthony Castonzo clearly indicated he was on the verge of retirement for multiple seasons. They went to the window with Matt Pryor, who a lot of people questioned but the front office and coaching staff assured everyone was the guy. Now five games in they’re putting him on the opposite side of the line, and inserting Raimann, the unproven third-round pick out of Central Michigan, in the most important position on the line to protect Matt Ryan’s blind side on a short week with no practice time. It’s wild to even type, let alone witness on a national stage like we did on Thursday Night Football.
That’s where the Colts are at though. Ranked dead last in points per game at a paltry 13.8 and failing to even reach 20 points this season. Now that they’ve had their mini-bye they get ready for a key next couple of weeks with division games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who humiliated the Colts in Week 2 and the Tennessee Titans, who took any wind out of the sails from the miraculous win over the Chiefs, with a line that is best described as “in flux” at the moment. Not great for a team 2-2-1 team who are 0-2-1 in the worst division in football.
On Monday’s Kevin & Query, the guys debated the musical chairs the Colts are playing at offensive line and if any hope is on the horizon. To hear the debate, click the link below and be sure to listen to Kevin & Query every weekday morning from 7-10 on 93.5 & 107.5 The Fan!
