Coming into the 2026 football season, the question was whether Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen, those beacons of long-term mediocrity, would save themselves this season and return next year.
After one game of that 2026, an egregious 41-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at Lucas Oil Stadium, the question is this: Are Ballard and Steichen going to survive this entire season?
For a minute there, there was hope, the Colts marching downfield for a game-opening touchdown, looking every bit like the offense that lit it up for 10 games last season. Unfortunately, the game is 60 minutes – 50 if you’re IU – and during that forgettable stretch of time, the Ravens ran the Colts off their own field. By halftime, Baltimore led, 31-13, and had rolled up 326 yards of offense. And that was despite committing six first-half penalties for 55 yards. The only people capable of slowing down Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers were their Baltimore teammate. Flowers, in particular, tore up the Colts – poor Justin Walley, playing his first game in two years, got burned repeatedly – finishing with five catches for 150 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half before a hamstring injury knocked him out of the game.
The Ravens, who let off the gas in the garbage-time second half, rolled up 506 yards, the most yards the Colts have surrendered since giving up 511 to the New Orleans Saints in 2023.
It should also be mentioned that Declan Doyle, Baltimore’s offensive coordinator, rolled up those gaudy numbers in his first-ever game as an NFL play caller. Suffice to say it wasn’t a memorable day for Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, whose defensive line never took advantage of Baltimore’s youth in the interior of the offensive line, whose linebackers were complete no-shows and whose secondary, the strength of this team, couldn’t keep Flowers under control.
Remember all that talk about playing with a heightened sense of urgency?
Remember Carlie Irsay-Gordon’s preseason incantation? “Find a way.”
