It’s been a rocky season for Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan.
While he’s led the Colts to four fourth-quarterback comeback victories, he also leads the NFL with 13 interceptions and 14 fumbles. As a result, the Colts are nearly as close to the No. 1 pick as they are to earning a playoff spot.
Indianapolis interim head coach Jeff Saturday talked about Ryan needing to play better on December 12.
“We all gotta go play better, but Matt [Ryan] is no different. He has to play better than he did last week if we have any shot to win,” Saturday told the media. “You hope that he goes and answers that call and meets that expectation.”
But Saturday is not giving up on the veteran signal caller and announced he would start in Week 15. The Colts interim head coach also added that Nick Foles will be the team’s backup signal caller.
Jeff Saturday: “Matt is going to be our guy going in Saturday”
The Colts visit the Minnesota Vikings on December 17.
Saturday Reveals QB Plan for Rest of 2022 Season
The Colts interim head coach continued talking about the team’s quarterback situation and said that he “hopes” Ryan will remain the team’s starter behind center the rest of the season.
The plan to stick with Ryan isn’t shocking, but it’s a little surprising that the Colts aren’t a little more motivated to play Sam Ehlinger again to see what he can do. Furthermore, Indianapolis will own Ryan a lot of money if he cannot be cut in March due to injury.
But with Ryan remaining behind center, there are two ways for him to quiet his critics calling for him to be benched again — win and cut down on his turnovers.
Indianapolis leads the NFL with 26 giveaways, which is 4 more than any other team in the NFL. The Colts own a minus-14 turnover margin, which is also the worst in the league.
Essentially, Indianapolis has averaged one fewer possession per game than its opponents because of giveaways and the lack of takeaways this season. The Colts are tied for third-to-last in the NFL with 12 takeaways.
“It’s casual and careless. We as an offense cannot be defined by that,” Saturday told the media. “It’s killing the football team.”
Saturday Puts Entire Team on Notice
The national media isn’t giving Indianapolis much of a chance of finishing the season strongly. Based on the schedule, it is easy to understand why.
In addition to a road matchup versus the Vikings, the Colts will also visit the New York Giants in Week 17. Their final home games will be against the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans.
Three of those four teams are above .500 and fighting for playoff positioning. Indianapolis’ only victory against a team with a winning record this season was against the Kansas City Chiefs back in Week 3.
But all of Indianapolis’ remaining opponents have been inconsistent as of late. The Vikings are 2-2 in their last four games, having lost by double digits twice. The Chargers just beat the Miami Dolphins, but the prior week, they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers are 3-4 in their last seven contests.
The Giants are struggling the most of the three playoff teams Indianapolis will face. New York has lost four of the last six since starting 6-1 and haven’t won since November 13.
New York’s last win came against Houston. The Texans have lost eight straight, which is the longest current losing streak in the league.
The Colts have a shot of competing with all of those opponents if they can figure out a way to cut down on their giveaways.
“We’ve got four winnable games,” Saturday told the media. “From a football team perspective, there’s still a lot to play for, and you need to go make plays,” Saturday said. “That means that you’re individual battles, we need to see individual improvement from each guy and position groups collectively. That’s really my expectations for the next four weeks.”
But it’s also worth noting that Indianapolis has played 13 games and has yet to solve that problem.
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Colts’ Jeff Saturday Puts Matt Ryan on Notice, Makes Decision at QB