The story is familiar to New York football fans.
However, this time the setting is 1100 miles to the west.
The Colts aren't devoid of talent, but watching them play football it seems like they've been lacking energy, enthusiasm, and life for weeks.
Week 17's blowout loss to the Giants at MetLife all but confirmed what pundits have been saying since the final years of manager Andrew Luck: the Colts are lethargic and their problem is culture. I made it into something.
“There is no vision” An anonymous veteran player told The Athletic.. “From the top down, from the front office to the coaches to the players, no one is on the same page. And at the end of every year, we're sitting here losing.”
If the loss wasn't stinging enough, the 7-9 Colts will miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive year in a season that began with owner Jim Arcee declaring a “playoff-ready” roster. It will be. The story below center leaves so much to be desired.
On Sundays throughout his second professional season, Anthony Richardson danced and dazzled like Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes.
On another Sunday, the 22-year-old was able to sit on the bench completely, even going so far as to sit on the bench himself because, in his words, he was “tired.”
It was an infamous decision, a perennial embarrassment, and the encapsulation of everything ugly within Indianapolis.
And it got even worse.
Head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard benched their likely franchise quarterback in favor of veteran journeyman Joe Flacco.
However, Flacco played sleepy and uninspiring football, forcing the Colts to return to Richardson after just two games.
In other situations, it may be considered an auspicious sign.
However, as Jay Glazer reported on Fox NFL Sunday, Indianapolis intended to keep the young cannon on the bench for the season.
But Flacco played such bad football that the Colts had no choice but to go back with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
A fall like this gave a bad impression to the fans and left a bad impression in the locker room.
“They were trying to hold [Richardson] I understand that, but the player they put in wasn't that player either,” one Colts veteran told The Athletic. “So when they returned, [Richardson]at which point you're like, “Okay, but what are we doing?” It had a big impact on the team. ”
As former Colt player Pat McAfee wrote in a lengthy attack on 'X', “Even a blind person might see the red flags on this team. Work ethic questions, good team. Never happens with… Questions about preparation efforts, never happens with good teams… Being late for meetings, never happens with good teams…
“Franchise QB tapped out of the game…on third down…in the red zone…because he was tired…which has never happened in NFL history…somehow AR thinks it's okay to do something like that. I thought, “It's a locker room problem. It's a culture problem.'' [sic] This is a building built by a great man. ”
As New York football fans know all too well, the loser attitude is pervasive, and it spreads from bottom to top and top to bottom.
No matter how great the building, it was built brick by brick.
That's how they fall too.
