With Sunday’s 17-16 loss the Indianapolis Colts fell to 4-6-1 on the year and all but laid to rest any fleeting hope of making the playoffs. For the second consecutive season, the Colts will likely be at home when real contenders compete for a shot at the Vince Lombardi Trophy. This disappointing reality begs the question of if this is what we should expect from the Colts as a franchise moving forward.
Final score. #PHIvsIND pic.twitter.com/9PU4lzNnH6
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) November 20, 2022
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We talked about this a few weeks back on this very blog that the Colts were getting dangerously close to being in NFL Purgatory: just good enough to keep playoff hope alive and not bad enough to earn a top three pick. Assuming they do in fact miss the postseason, it will be the third time in the last four years that the Colts led fans on and made them think they had a legitimate chance at not only making some noise in the playoffs but ACTUALLY GETTING THERE.
It’s a far cry from ten years ago when Andrew Luck was the heir apparent to the constant contention and champion expectations that Peyton Manning set here during his career. Following Andrew Luck’s shocking retirement in 2019 it’s been retread after retread after retread quarterback that have been unable to turn the Colts into a serious threat in the AFC. Only one of them managed to make the playoffs and even though they played a close game against Buffalo that team was destined for an early round exit.
So that makes it four seasons trapped in NFL Purgatory and nothing to show for it but one playoff appearance, a vastly overpaid offensive line and an occasional upset victory over a legit contender (see Chiefs Week 3).
Four years isn’t an anomaly. It’s a trend, a norm, an expectation. Even if this team could some how find a Christmas miracle over the next five weeks to stumble into the playoffs, there’s no Super Bowl run to be had here. Regrettably, even if they genuinely tanked the rest of the season they’d be lucky to get a top 3 pick which, by that point, the top QBs in the 2023 Draft class are expected to be off the board.
5 things learned from the #Colts missing out on such a big victory:
-Can’t finish
-Same old Colts offense
-Yannick Ngakoue steps uphttps://t.co/KfIDOq4jso
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowen1070) November 21, 2022
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So they are trapped. NFL Purgatory is the worst place to be as a franchise in this league. Barring moving up in the draft or getting some help from other teams at the bottom of the standings, this might be the new normal in Indianapolis.
Tuesday on The Dan Dakich Show The Dean Mike Chappell of Fox 59 and CBS 4 stopped by to give his thoughts on the current state of the Colts and what the rest of the season holds for them.
Chapp also spoke with us about:
- what he saw in Sunday’s loss to Philly
- where the team goes from here for both this season and beyond
- the team’s decision to name Jeff Saturday interim head coach and how that experiment has gone
- what the front office and coaching staff might look like in 2023
Listen to Dan’s full chat with Mike Chappell below and don’t miss The Dan Dakich Show, weekdays 12-3pm Eastern, on The Fan.
