Well, it’s playoffs or bust for Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen.
Of course, it was playoffs or bust last season, but then the Colts, ravaged by injuries, dropped seven in a row to finish the season, at which point, it was no longer playoffs or bust.
But this time, dammit, team owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon means it. There will be no extenuating circumstances to fall back upon as an explanation/excuse for coming up short next year. This isn’t probation, it’s double-secret probation. This is a Bob Knight zero-tolerance probation. Get it done…or else.
“The sense of urgency has never been higher,” she said Monday.
Does Chris Ballard lead the NFL in mulligans? He got a get-out-of-jail-free card after the Andrew Luck retirement; now, he’s getting another one after this year’s collapse.
I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, and my stance remains the same: Blow it up. Part ways with Ballard and Steichen. Don’t accept mediocrity, which has been the Colts’ default setting for almost a decade now. You know all the numbers by now. One playoff victory during the Ballard era. No playoff appearances in five years. No AFC South titles during a 10-year run when every other AFC South team has won the division twice. Steichen in particular has gone 2-10 against Houston and Jacksonville during his tenure. And we could go on. But we won’t. You know the score; the Colts, the worst game- and season-finishers in the league, stink in December, which is when the real NFL season begins.
