WESTFIELD — Too often, the Indianapolis Colts have put themselves on the wrong side of that gray area in the NFL separating the good from the not-nearly-good-enough.
“It’s a very fine line,’’ Jonathan Taylor said.
And an unforgiving one.
Make the plays when it absolutely matters, and all things are possible. The Kansas City Chiefs were 11-0 in one-possession games last season, which propelled them to their fifth Super Bowl in six seasons. Super Bowl champion Philadelphia was 8-2.
Fail to execute, and it can be too difficult to overcome. The Colts have failed in enough critical situations that they’ve missed the playoffs in four consecutive seasons for the first time in more than three decades. Only five other teams are mired in four-year droughts.
The last time the franchise reached the postseason in 2020, DeForest Buckner was a much-hyped trade acquisition from San Francisco. He was coming off a Super Bowl appearance with the 49ers.
“It’s tough,’’ he said. “Obviously coming here my first year and seeing the team that we had that season and the season we had, it’s just crazy. We’re 11-5 and we’re the 7th seed in the AFC. It was nuts.
“Seeing all the potential we have and the players we have – some of the core players we still have here – not being able to get over that hump the past four years has definitely been frustrating.’’
There’s no question that the Colts’ inability to recover from Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement a few weeks before the start of the 2019 season has played a major role. The ’19 roster was primed to compete for something significant.
But the quarterback carousel has been dizzying and counterproductive to winning on a consistent basis.
“The quarterback,’’ Chris Ballard insisted, “(is) one of 53 and it’s not all about him, but he’s an important piece.’’
Perhaps the open competition between Anthony Richardson Sr. and Daniel Jones provides at least temporary relief and direction.
But the Colts’ four-year malaise goes deeper. They could have – should have? – reached the playoffs with Carson Wentz, Gardner Minshew II and Richardson/Joe Flacco last season.
A few plays here and there, remember? Make them and the narrative could have flipped completely.
“Definitely, but those are the plays,’’ said Taylor, who committed one of those massive mistakes last season in Denver. “Those are the plays that put those teams over the edge.
“Can you lock in? Can you play a full 60 minutes? Can you play each and every single play with a level of focus, a level of intensity, but a level of execution as well?
“You’ve gotta show results. You’ve gotta get wins. You’ve gotta stack ‘em.’’
Ballard and Steichen have broken down the team’s habitual shortcomings and discussed how to rectify them. The Colts are 20-19-1 in one-possession games over the past four seasons – that’s 13th in the NFL; the Chiefs are 29-11 and the Eagles 25-10 – and 9-12 in December/January games.
The obvious objectives: Play better late in the season and in games, and make more plays when it matters.
It starts with training camp at Grand Park.
The Colts will have a “pretty physical training camp,’’ according to Ballard.
Full pads come on for the first time Monday.
“Look, toughness still wins. It does,’’ he said. “I think to be physical, you have to practice physical.’’
“Next week when the pads come on, you guys will see some sudden-change periods, some long-drive drills,’’ Steichen said. “We’ll have more situational stuff.
“I want to make sure we come out of this thing in tip-top shape come week 1, is one of the goals for us.’’
Along with their December travails, the Colts 5-7-1 in September. Their last season-opening win: 21-17 against the Raiders in 2013.
Steichen is doing whatever possible to better prepare the team for a better start, a better finish and being better in pivotal situations.
“I think that comes naturally as we get in those situations,’’ he said.
During a team meeting as camp opened, Steichen relayed to players the NFL experienced the most one-possession games in history. The Colts were 8-5 in games decided by 8 points or fewer.
“We’ve got to be great in the fourth quarter,’’ he said. “So, we’ve got to create our edge in training camp, build the foundation in training camp.
“Mental and physical toughness is what we’re trying to get done.’’
Nearly every team can point to a handful of plays that turned a season, for the good or bad. A converted third-and-whatever to keep a drive alive. An interception, deflected pass or sack to derail a comeback effort.
Remember?
- Taylor dropping the football short of the goal line in the third quarter at Denver in week 15 last season. A 41-yard touchdown would have pushed the Colts in front 20-7 and might have proven too much of a deficit for rookie quarterback Bo Nix to overcome. A victory would have given them a 65% chance of reaching the playoffs with closing games against teams – the Titans, Giants and Jaguars – who would finish with a combined 10-41 record.
- An embarrassing 45-33 loss to the Giants two weeks later snuffed out any postseason hopes.
- Minshew and Tyler Goodson failing to connect on a fourth-and-1 at the Houston 15 with a minute remaining in week 18 of 2023. The Colts trailed 23-17 but had the Texans on their heels. Complete the pass and finish the drive, and the AFC South title returns to Indy for the first time since 2014.
- In 2021, the Colts had everything right there. They were 9-6 and would clinch a playoff berth with a win at home against Las Vegas. But the Raiders rallied for a 23-20 victory, and Shaq Leonard’s inability to smother Derek Carr for a sack on third-and-10 near midfield with less than a minute remaining in a 20-all game was one of those critical plays that wasn’t made. Leonard left his feet, allowing Carr to escape and complete a 24-yard pass to Hunter Renfrow that led to Daniel Carlson’s game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired.
- The Colts still would clinch a wild-card spot with a week 18 win at 2-14 Jacksonville but suffered an incredible meltdown and lost 26-11.
Carlie Irsay-Gordon’s expectations mirror those of her late father, Jim Irsay, which she’s mentioned to Ballard.
“She’ll always tell you, ‘Look, I don’t want to be good. I want to be great,’’’ Ballard said. “That’s always the goal going in.’’
Excluding the chaotic 2022 season (4-12-1), the Colts have been as middle of the road as it gets: 9-8, 9-8 and 8-9.
Ballard shook his head.
“’22 was ’22,’’ he said. “The ’23 season, the last game of the year we were right there. Even last year at the end, we didn’t play as good as I thought we should have, but we were still kind of in the mix. Then you go back to ’21 and we’re in the driver’s seat and we piss down our legs.
“We have to finish the seasons better because we’ve had some really good football teams that just haven’t got it done.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.