As Shane Steichen will get set to embark on a pivotal third season as Indianapolis Colts head coach, one NFL analyst not too long ago threw chilly water on a possible 2025 breakthrough.
In a latest article, ESPN’s Invoice Barnwell discussed five teams he expects to say no subsequent season. The Colts had the ignominious distinction of being the one one of many 5 to complete final season with a shedding document.
Indianapolis went 8-9 in 2024, ending two video games behind the two-time defending AFC South champion Houston Texans.
Throughout Steichen’s first two seasons as head coach, the Colts are 17-17, lacking the 2023 postseason after a Week 18 loss to the Texans.
Barnwell’s reasoning for why Indianapolis may fall in need of eight wins this season is sound.
“The Colts beat the Steelers, however their different six wins got here in opposition to groups with a mixed document of 32-87,” wrote Barnwell. “Six of their eight wins came visiting groups that completed with one of many 10 worst data.”
He additionally famous the Colts benefited from dealing with backup quarterbacks in an inordinate quantity of video games, together with Malik Willis, Mac Jones and Mason Rudolph, a pattern they can not rely on extending into 2025.
If appropriate, Indianapolis may have gotten progressively worse every season underneath Steichen, which may make a fourth season onerous for higher administration to justify, doubtlessly resulting in vital modifications.
The Colts would certainly have a special beginning quarterback coming into 2026 than both Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones. Each had been extremely graded out of faculty and prime 10 picks of their respective draft lessons, however neither has lived as much as expectations.
Coming into Week 3 of the preseason, Steichen has but to call his starter for the common season.
With a second consecutive shedding marketing campaign, Indianapolis could be choosing nearer to (or in) the highest 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft, when a number of gifted quarterbacks are anticipated to be out there, even when the most important identify, Texas quarterback Arch Manning, the nephew of former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, stays in school.
It is tough to think about Indianapolis giving Steichen, the previous Eagles offensive coordinator, a second probability to develop a rookie quarterback following Richardson. It is simpler to think about the Colts wiping the slate clear and pursuing the subsequent sizzling identify within the coordinator ranks.
The 2025 season is a vital one for Steichen in Indianapolis. And based on Barnwell’s prognosis, it could be his final.
