If you’re a glutton for punishment and sat through the absolute train wreck that was the Indianapolis Colts’ 42-7 shellacking by the Jacksonville Jaguars, you probably left with a few distinct feelings. Nausea. Confusion. And, ultimately, total dynamic apathy.Then came the postgame press conference.
Head coach Shane Steichen stepped up to the podium, put on his best stoic coach-speak face, and hit us with the usual corporate NFL jargon: “It wasn’t good enough, flat-out wasn’t good enough. We got outcoached, we got outplayed… the effort and energy have to be there every week.”Wait, hold on a second. Effort? Energy?
Shane, respectfully, what in the world were you watching?To sit there and frame a 35-point blowout as a simple issue of “energy” and “doing a better job” isn’t just gaslighting the fanbase—it’s a complete refusal to admit the entire ship is underwater and sinking fast. Steichen’s diagnosis of the Jaguars debacle is dead wrong, and frankly, it shows a coach who is completely out of answers.
The “Effort” Excuse is a Cop-Out for Systemic Failure
Blaming a 42-7 beatdown on “effort” is the oldest trick in the lazy head coach handbook. When a scheme fails, when your quarterback throws back-breaking interceptions, and when defenders are running around like lost tourists at an airport, calling it an “effort issue” absolves the coaching staff of being structurally incompetent.The players didn’t just “lack energy”—they looked completely unprepared.
When Jacksonville’s offense carved through the Colts’ defense like a hot knife through butter, it wasn’t because Indy’s defenders were too tired to tackle; it was because they were consistently out of position. The secondary played with all the structural integrity of a wet paper towel. When your offensive line gives up four sacks and ten quarterback hits, it’s not because they didn’t try hard enough; it’s because the protection schemes are predictably telegraphed.
Steichen wants you to believe the guys on the field just needed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The reality? The Colts game plan belonged in a recycling bin before kickoff even happened.
The Colts Quarterback Delusion
Steichen’s postgame dance around the quarterback position was pure comedy. Daniel Jones turned in a classic nightmare performance: 144 passing yards and two interceptions before getting benched in the fourth quarter.Yet on Monday, after telling the media he was going to “evaluate everything,” Steichen doubled down and announced Jones gives the Colts the “best chance to win.”Win what, exactly? A higher pick in the draft?
Steichen threw out the classic excuse that “it’s not all on the quarterback” and cited route detail and pass protection. Sure, football is a team sport, but when your quarterback is actively handing the ball to the opposing team while leading an offense that looks allergic to the end zone, sticking with him isn’t loyalty—it’s insanity. Steichen pulled Jones for Anthony Richardson late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach, claiming it was just because of the score. Standing behind a failing quarterback while telling the rest of the locker room that everyone needs to perform better is the fastest way to lose a team.
A Colts Locker Room That Has Already Checked Out
Here is the ultimate truth that Steichen refuses to say out loud: the locker room knows the season is dead.
You don’t get blown out by 35 points by a rival if the team actually believes in the direction of the program. Jonathan Taylor—a former Pro Bowler and team leader—was handed the ball eight times for 23 yards. Eight. Your best playmaker was effectively turned into a spectator while the game got out of hand. When receivers are watching fumbles bounce on the turf without diving for them, that’s not a temporary lack of focus. That’s a roster that realizes management traded away its core veterans and punted on the year.
Shane Steichen can stand at the podium and talk about “evaluating every position” and “digging out of a hole” all he wants. But until he acknowledges that his scheme, his quarterback evaluation, and his game management are the primary reasons the Colts look like a minor league outfit, nothing is going to change.The Colts didn’t lose in Jacksonville because they forgot to try hard. They lost because they are fundamentally broken from the top down—and pretending otherwise won’t fix it.
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