This season has been a bit of a let down. It’s early December. The Indianapolis Colts are still batting an average 6-6. They’ve just about run out of time to turn the season around. At this point, it’s going to be a battle to make it to the playoffs. That’s hard to accept.
The Colts played the Steelers yesterday in a Sunday Night Football, late-night game. They lost. Big time. 45-10 in Heinz Field, Pittsburgh. The first half was watchable, the second-half was just depressing. It’s hard not to say this is the start of the end for the Colts this season.
Maybe it started with Andrew Luck’s injury earlier this year. Or maybe the issues began before that. Maybe the problems can be traced to way back when the team was built for a one or two year success rather than a long-lasting, solid base. The older players the Colts picked up may still have a few good season left, but they’re also old. They get hurt more often, they’re just a little bit slower. And everyone seems injured. Castonzo, Dorsett, Freeman, Luck, Thornton. That’s a lot of players out. This is around the 5th defense starting line for the Colts to start. There’s no cohesion building or bonding of the linemen if everyone is currently shuffling. But even when the Colts started the season, it was still rough going. That’s why the Colts are running 6-6.
If the best part of watching a Colts game is the other’s team victory celebration (re: watching Antonio Brown jump a goal post) it can be tough to even keep watching, keep supporting, the Colts. But, Chuck Pagano’s brief, yet accurate statement in the post-game sums it all up, “They kicked our ass. Period.” It makes it easier to like Coach Chuck Pagano when he’s that direct. It seems like he’s aware there’s a problem. And we won’t let it happen again. That’s something we can get behind.
So what happened in this week’s game to lead to a blow-out? Matt Hasselbeck, who’s previously 3-0 run as quarterback was marred by an injury. At the start of the game it was a 6-5 team vs. a 6-5 team. That means the Steelers are already out of playoff contention. The Colts are still on top of the AFC South, but all other teams leading the division at this point are 10-2.
The game started in a bit of an odd fashion. By 2:42 in the first half there had been three turnovers. There were more field goals than turnovers early in the game. The Colts defense stayed in the game keep the score even, but then the Steelers broke away, and the Colts had no answer. Against the Colts best corners and defensive players, the Steelers were scoring. That was hard to watch. It takes the true fans, the real fans to stick with the game when it’s hopeless.
The Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars in a suddenly vital and important AFC South next Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (that’s December 13th) If you’re in the Jacksonville area, or are looking to travel somewhere warm to support the Colts on the road, Colts tickets are still available for next week.