Shane Steichen and Anthony Richardson give the Colts the direction they need.
After a 9-8 season finale in 2023, the Indianapolis Colts have renewed faith in themselves. Their organization has found a much-needed direction for the first time in many seasons.
First, there’s rookie head coach Shane Steichen, who helped Indianapolis finish 11th in total scoring offense while juggling multiple injuries to key players, including running back Jonathan Taylor and rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson. Steichen also found novel and inventive ways to customize his play calling style by utilizing as many players as possible.
Both Taylor and Richardson have missed time this season due to injuries; Richardson missed one game because of a concussion he received against the Houston Texans in Week 2, and in Week 5 against the Tennessee Titans, he suffered an AC joint injury that ended his season. Taylor struggled with two injuries: a thumb injury that kept him out of three more games, for a total of seven, and an ankle injury that kept him out of the first four games of the season.
Throughout the regular season, running back Zack Moss and quarterback Gardner Minshew were used to fill in for both Taylor and Richardson, who only managed to play one snap together. A number of important offensive linemen, such as Ryan Kelly at center, Bernhard Raimann at left tackle, and
Despite a 3-5 start, the Colts managed to stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race, with Steichen being the main factor behind their remarkable improvement from a year ago.
Let’s go back to the Colts’ exact position from the previous season. With a record of 4-12-1, the team was coming off what was possibly one of the worst seasons in the organization’s history. Following a lackluster performance in Foxborough against the New England Patriots, former head coach Frank Reich was fired, becoming the first head coach to be fired during the season in franchise history. After hiring Jeff Saturday as an interim head coach, Indianapolis ended its 2022 campaign with a string of defeats, including giving up the biggest NFL regular-season comeback to the Minnesota Vikings, whom Indianapolis led 33-0 before losing 39-36 in overtime.
After Andrew Luck retired, the team had several quarterback changes in the years that followed, including veterans Matt Ryan (2022), Carson Wentz (2021), Philip Rivers (2020), and Jacoby Brissett (2019). Not until the 2022 season had everything stopped was that true. The Colts as a team lacked a clear sense of direction and their processes had, for the most part, failed them over time.
Well, until Richardson and Steichen showed up. Steichen had come after the team’s close 38-35 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57. The former offensive coordinator for the Eagles was, in the words of Colts general manager Chris Ballard of his first-year head coach, “dialed in” from the beginning. It wasn’t long before people
“Swung in.” Always dialed in. Everything ball…He never lacks confidence in his abilities or harbors even the slightest doubt. Ballard stated as much at his season-ending news conference on Thursday. “And he sees the big picture.” “He’s an amazing problem-solver, and he has high expectations for all of us—staff and players alike.”
Anthony Richardson, a rookie quarterback chosen with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, is comparable.
