1. Still Running It Back?

The losing feeling will continue into the offseason for the Colts. That’s now 7 straight losses to end the season. After starting 7-1, the Colts lost 8 of their last 9 games, finishing 8-9 on the season. Since the NFL expanded the regular season schedule to 17 games, the Colts have gone 9-8, 4-12-1, 9-8 and 8-9. The spiraling of this season stings more when you consider the Texans started this year 0-3, had to go to their backup quarterback for 3 games after that (going 3-0 in those games), yet still found a way to win 12 of their final 14 games. The Colts missed winning the AFC South by 5 games. And this now means Shane Steichen is an ugly 2-10 in his coaching career against the Texans and Jaguars. With the loss, that brings Steichen’s 3-year record to 25-26 (0-0 in postseason) and Chris Ballard’s 9-year mark to 70-78-1 (1-2 in postseason). How will Carlie Irsay-Gordon respond to the 3rd longest current playoff drought in the NFL?

2. Riley Leonard Shines

While hindsight is always 20/20, yes, I was a fan 4 weeks ago of playing Riley Leonard over Philip Rivers. While the 0-3 record with Rivers might not have changed drastically, playing Leonard would have certainly given the Colts a higher offensive ceiling, and you saw that on Sunday. Probably the most impressive aspect to Leonard on Sunday is one of his bigger questions (delivering from the pocket), was on full display with beautiful 2^nd and 3^rd level touch and accuracy, coming while the Texans still had their top-ranked defensive unit in the game. Again, Leonard has a lot of nice traits, and that is perfect to throw a Day 3 dart at and try to further develop. Let’s not place Leonard into some unfair category of “could he be the next Brock Purdy?” More realistic is, “could he be this team’s long-term backup?” That’s a key roster ingredient, especially if the starting QB moving forward is Daniel Jones, with injury history you can’t ignore. In more of the short term, it’s quite possible the Colts will need some quarterback insurance to start next season, depending on the Achilles clearance for Jones. Is Leonard an option for that? Sunday, facing the NFL’s best defense for a half, was certainly a positive sign in proving he could be that.

3. Alec Pierce (Pathetically) Hits Shower Early

No Colts player had a better 17-game season than Alec Pierce. I’ll stand by that as Pierce hilariously had to hit the showers early after an official ejected him from some of the softest contact you’ll ever see lead to such a disqualification. I’ll get more into Pierce in a bit, but with the season finale here, the annual question of “is this the last game” for Colts free agents brings up a notable list of players. Among the starters on the 2026 free agency list, you have QB-Daniel Jones, WR-Alec Pierce, TE-Mo Alie-Cox, TE-Drew Ogletree RT-Braden Smith, DE-Samson Ebukam, DE-Kwity Paye, LB-Germaine Pratt, S-Nick Cross. If you take it a step further, the Colts have a few vets getting up there in age entering contract years in 2026, in WR-Michael Pittman Jr. OG-Quenton Nelson, DT-Grover Stewart, RB-Jonathan Taylor, CB-Kenny Moore II, LB-Zaire Franklin. While Sunday spoke to it, if the Colts have a long-term debate of Pierce (free agent in 2026) or Pittman Jr. ($29 million cap hit in a 2026 contract year), that’s no longer a decision for me. It’s got to be Pierce. If the Colts have any doubt about competing on the free agent open market for Pierce’s services, then you throw that franchise tag right on him. Depending on who is calling the shots for the Colts in 2026, how this list looks in regards to the roster next fall could involve quite a few changes. How many must returns do you see on the unrestricted free agent list? Jones? Pierce? Anyone else?

4. Colts Defense Ends Season Wilting

It was a slow wilt, but the Colts defense leaked a good amount of oil as the 2025 season moved along. On Sunday, down 3 notable starters (DeForest Buckner, Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward), the Colts gave up 24 first-half points. It was at that point the Texans benched C.J. Stroud, and several other offensive starters, as they elected to keep star wideout Nico Collins out for the entire game with the playoffs coming next week. And yet the Colts still found a way to give up one final game-winning drive, a truly fitting way for this season to end. While a change in defensive scheme was needed, the Colts ended the season just slightly better than the 25 points they allowed per game last year. The pass rush still lacks real pop off the edge (0 sacks again on Sunday). Even if the Colts go “run it back” in 2026, I’ll be curious to see how the front 7 looks personnel wise next season. Too much is invested into that group for the lack of production.

5. No Jonathan Taylor Rushing Title

One “play the young guys in a meaningless game” note was the Colts did give rookie D.J. Giddens his first carries since Week 5. Giddens finished the game with 30 rushing yards on 8 carries. With Tyler Goodson and Ameer Abdullah offering special teams help, the Colts went from giving Giddens 12 carries in the season opener, to 0 carries from Week 6-17. Speaking of Jonathan Taylor, his hopes at a league rushing title ended in another quiet performance. Taylor had 26 rushing yards on 14 carries, for a season low 1.7 yards per carry. The Taylor run game has been a total 180 here in the second half of the season. Let’s look at the Taylor yards per carry numbers during the 7-1 start: 3.9 (win), 6.6 (win), 6.0 (win), 4.5 (loss), 3.9 (win), 5.9 (win), 5.9 (win), 12.8 (win). And then the Taylor numbers in going 1-7 heading into Week 18: 3.2 (loss), 7.6 (win), 3.6 (loss), 4.0 (loss), 3.5 (loss), 3.5 (loss), 2.9 (loss), 3.3 (loss).

6. QUICK HITTERS

-Injury Report: The following Colts were inactive on Sunday: CB-Sauce Gardner (calf), TE-Will Mallory (lung), S-George Odum, S-Reuben Lowery III, DT-Eric Johnson II, QB-Philip Rivers. The following players got injured and did not return: CB-Cameron Mitchell (calf)

–Key Stat: Riley Leonard became the first quarterback with at least 2 passing touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown in his first career start since Brock Purdy in 2022.

-What’s Next: The Colts (8-9) are headed for the offseason early for a 5^th straight year. Locker room cleanout on Monday. When do we hear from the powers that be?