The Indianapolis Colts have been floating through mediocrity season after season. Despite taking a quarterback fourth overall in 2023, we’ve seen little to no upward momentum for the Indianapolis Colts. With that being said, is it time to take a closer look at Shane Steichen? Let’s dig deep into Shane Steichen, what he excels in, and what I think puts him on the hot seat.
Shane Steichen – The Good
The best thing about Steichen is his play-calling, point blank period. I think he brings a layer to the Colts’ offense that we haven’t seen in a long time, and it really shows with how often we’re seeing an open man. Unfortunately, Steichen’s quarterback missing easy throws and wide-open men makes it really difficult to fully assess the Steichen offense. Now, you can certainly be critical of his management of Joe Flacco last season, but I think it’s balanced out by the success of Gardner Minshew last season. In fact, the Colts were one play away from a playoff birth first year under Steichen, but Minshew missed his (wide open thanks to Steichen’s play call) man.
While I know there are a lot of (fellow) Colts fans who think Steichen is the problem, or who think AR is the problem, I think its possible that both things can be at once. I’m a pretty staunch Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen defender, I think we’ve been given an opportunity to build a franchise around the two. I think that both of the two have a massive amount of potential, and both need each other to get it out of them. However, there are certainly kinks that need to be worked out in the offense.
Shane Steichen – The Bad
Now, it’s not hard to find flaws in Shane Steichen. Once again, the Colts have sputtered out to essentially a .500 season, and this is the second time after we supposedly were a QB and a coach away. First, elephant in the room: we were billed a coach that can take an athletically talented QB (see Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts) and bring out the potential in him and we have yet to get that. While Anthony Richardson is a project, it seems like we get one great game out of him once every four or five games, and it hasn’t looked brighter at all for the past two years. Steichen was supposed to be the guy for the job, and Colts fans are struggling to see how that can be the case.
Steichen also hasn’t got the best decision making in the world. While he’s been put in some pretty bad situations for a first-time, barely three-year tenured head coach, he also hasn’t entirely proven himself to be the right guy to deal with these tough situations. I don’t think Joe Flacco should have started as many games as he did, and I don’t think that situation was handled with as much grace as it could of been.
