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\nAndrew Luck’s retirement at 29 was a major turning point for the Colts<\/p>\n
Since 2016 every team in the AFC South has finished bottom of the division, won the division and won two or more play-off games.<\/p>\n
Every team, that is, except the Indianapolis Colts.<\/p>\n
After a 2-4 start, the Colts fired general manager Chris Ballard, ending his nearly decade-long term in charge of a team that, within said decade, has been the definition of mediocre. So much so that since 2016, Indy’s 46.8% winning percentage ranks 16th among the NFL’s 32 teams.<\/p>\n
A loss to the Minnesota Vikings this past weekend saw the Colts slip to 2-5, further damaging their play-off hopes. Now, with the trade deadline still a week and a half away, Indianapolis has already decided to pull the plug on its season.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, they sent future Hall of Fame guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks and, nearly two hours later, traded former All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n
The fire sale is not expected to end there. Running back Jonathan Taylor, who previously led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns, is expected to be coveted by teams around the league. While wide receivers Josh Downs and Keenan Allen, along with defensive tackle Grover Stewart, are all on expiring contracts and could help any contending team.<\/p>\n
What makes this decade of dullness even more frustrating is the two sliding-doors moments that defined it on either end.<\/p>\n
The first and most consequential came on August 24th, 2019, when franchise quarterback Andrew Luck announced his retirement just two weeks before the season was due to start. Luck is still regarded as one of greatest – if not the greatest – quarterback prospects in NFL history and, despite battling injuries, largely lived up to the lofty expectations placed on him.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the injuries became too much. After winning Comeback Player of the Year in 2018, Luck helped lead the Colts to the play-offs, with Indianapolis winning nine of its final 10 regular-season games.<\/p>\n
But, at just 29, he called time on his career, announcing his retirement after a pre-season game.<\/p>\n
\nAndrew Luck’s retirement at 29 was a major turning point for the Colts<\/p>\n
That decision left the Colts scrambling to find a replacement, with the team cycling through 12 starting quarterbacks over the following eight years. The list covered the full spectrum, from fading stars looking for one last chance to plucky back-ups and high-potential rookies.<\/p>\n
Nothing seemed to work. The roster built around Luck, and later around his successors, was good enough to win games, just not enough of them to make a sustained push for the biggest prizes.<\/p>\n
Their second Flashpoint came last season. After years on the quarterback carousel, the Colts signed former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to a one-year contract to battle with their young prospect Anthony Richardson.<\/p>\n
To much surprise, Jones won the starting job, and the Colts began winning games – a lot of them.<\/p>\n
Before their Week 10 trip to Berlin, Indianapolis stood at 7-2 and looked on course for their best season since Luck’s retirement.<\/p>\n
To strengthen that challenge, the Colts acquired New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner in a trade before the deadline. The star cornerback did not come cheap, costing Indianapolis its 2026 and 2027 first-round draft picks.<\/p>\n
The Colts continued their winning ways and went into their bye week at 8-2, with prediction models giving them a 90% chance to make the play-offs. Then the wheels came off.<\/p>\n
After the bye, Indianapolis lost its next seven games, with Jones’ Achilles injury proving a major turning point. He suffered the injury during the team’s third loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Colts finished the season 8-9, missing the play-offs for a fifth consecutive year.<\/p>\n
Despite the severity of the injury, Indianapolis believed in Jones enough to agree to a two-year contract worth $88m.<\/p>\n
That faith has yet to be rewarded this season. Jones has thrown seven interceptions against just four touchdown passes, and his performances have contributed to the Colts’ disappointing 2-5 start.<\/p>\n
The rebuild is made even more difficult by the fact that Indianapolis no longer owns its first-round pick for 2027, having sent it to the Jets in the Gardner deal. A move that once signalled the Colts were going all in now looks far more costly as the team begins another rebuild.<\/p>\n
Two moments in just under a decade derailed a team that had the talent to reach greater heights. Now with a rebuild seemingly in full effect, it could be another decade of despair for the Colts.<\/p>\n
Games to watch this weekend<\/p>\n
Buffalo Bills vs Baltimore Ravens<\/p>\n
Lamar Jackson is back from injury just in time to face Josh Allen and the Bills, making this a can’t-miss match-up.<\/p>\n
Detroit Lions vs Minnesota Vikings<\/p>\n
An unstoppable force meets an immovable object in the NFC North, with the Lions boasting the NFL’s fifth-best offence while the Vikings have the league’s best defence.<\/p>\n
Denver Broncos vs Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n
Both teams have five wins, but neither has been entirely convincing. A statement victory could give either side the edge in the AFC West and establish them as a force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since 2016 every team in the AFC South has finished bottom of the division, won the division and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-670095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}