The 2022 season has turned into a disaster for the Indianapolis Colts. That’s especially true for the Colts offense.
Week 9 against the New England Patriots may have been rock bottom.
Indianapolis averaged 2.0 yards per play in the 26-3 loss to its old rival. The Colts recorded 121 yards of offense, allowed nine sacks and went 0-for-14 on third down.
The nine sacks matched how many the Washington Commanders allowed against the Philadelphia Eagles during Week 3, which is the most in a game this season. Furthermore, the 121 offensive yards was the fewest for a Colts offense since 1997.
Finally, the Colts were one more failed third-down attempt short of an NFL record.
Colts 121 total yards 9th fewest in franchise history. Fewest since 118 vs. Seattle in 1997.
With the Colts finishing Week 9 with those embarrassing statistics, Indianapolis center Ryan Kelly ripped into the Colts offense.
“We hung our defense out to dry, as bad as I can ever remember it,” Kelly told reporters.
Ryan Kelly: “We hung our defense out to dry, as bad as I can ever remember it.”
Wide receiver Parris Campbell was at a loss for words over how badly the Colts performed on offense in Week 9.
“No explanation,” Campbell said. “That s*** was embarrassing.”
Colts Offense Hits Rock Bottom Against Patriots
Diving further into Indianapolis’ offensive performance versus New England will not make things any better for the Colts. Second-year quarterback Sam Ehlinger completed just a little more than 50% of his passes, going 15 for 29 with 103 yards. He averaged 3.6 yards per pass with an interception.
Ehlinger missed open receivers throughout the day, but he received virtually no help from the rest of his offense. The Patriots defensive line pressured him all afternoon. New England recorded 9 sacks, 8 tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hits.
The pick Ehlinger threw wasn’t his fault, as his pass tipped off Kylen Granson’s hands. It was a play the tight end should have made.
Tip-drill pick for the Patriots is a pick-six.
Kylen Granson has to catch that.
Without All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor, the Colts couldn’t run either. Ehlinger led the team with 39 rushing yards. Running backs Deon Jackson and Jordan Wilkins and Phillip Lindsay combined for 38 rushing yards.
Jackson, the Colts’ starting running back in Week 9, averaged 2.1 yards per rush.
Rookie wideout Alec Pierce led the Colts in receiving, and he only had one catch. He posted 23 receiving yards on 2 targets.
What’s Next for Colts Struggling Offense?
It’s hard to imagine things continuing to get worse for the Indianapolis offense. Week 9 should be rock bottom, but there are eight games left for the Colts, five of which are against teams currently in playoff positioning.
Even if things improve statistically for the Colts offense, there’s not much relief in sight unless the team gets a lot better.
The organization is also running out of people to blame for this atrocious offense. Over the last two weeks, the Colts have benched their starting quarterback and fired their offensive coordinator.
It will be interesting to see if there’s another significant change this week with things not only failing to improve for the Colts offense, but continuing to get worse.
Would love to know what each of these three are thinking at halftime of this one:
Jim Irsay
Marcus Brady
Matt Ryan
If there’s any consolation for Ehlinger and the Colts offense, they will face the Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers in two of the next three weeks. Both of those teams have two wins and entered Week 9 in the bottom half of the league in points allowed.
But sandwiched in between the Raiders and Steelers on the Indianapolis schedule is the undefeated Eagles.
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Colts’ Ryan Kelly, Parris Campbell Rips Offense After Loss to Patriots