The Patriots destroyed the Colts as a franchise. Don’t ever forget it.
The 3-4-1 Colts will visit Foxborough Sunday for their near-annual matchup against the Patriots; and though they defeated New England last season, the cosmic universe has returned to order.
This time around, the Colts are imploding … again.
Last week, head coach Frank Reich announced Matt Ryan lost his starting quarterback job to 2021 sixth-round pick Sam Ehlinger. Ryan, who’s also rehabbing a shoulder injury, committed 12 turnovers in seven games with the Colts.
Since Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement, the Colts have opened the season with four different starting quarterbacks in four years: Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and this season, Ryan. Rivers worked out well, leading Indianapolis to a surprise playoff berth.
Wentz was disastrous, and Ryan was even worse.
It was just five years ago when the Colts still looked like they were poised to challenge the Patriots for AFC supremacy. But the Patriots kept destroying them. In Luck’s final meeting against Tom Brady, the Patriots won 38-24. New England went 8-0 against the Colts in the 2010s.
The Patriots’ most infamous victory was the 2015 AFC Championship, otherwise known as the game that ignited Deflategate. It was the fourth time in three years that Brady walloped Luck. The Patriots beat the Colts by an aggregate score of 261-123 during Brady and Luck’s six matchups.
Brady’s departure has leveled the playing field. The Patriots and Colts appear even on paper: they’re both stuck in the AFC’s purgatory of mediocrity.
But the Patriots are 3-1 over their last four games, whereas the Colts are reeling. Their loss last week to the Commanders was crushing: Terry McLaurin caught a deep pass right on the goal line late in regulation, setting up Washington’s game-winning touchdown.
In response, the Colts fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, who didn't even call their plays. They also traded shifty running back Nyheim Hines to the Bills.
The Patriots, who suffered a humiliating home loss to the Bears just last week, aren’t exactly a beacon of excellence themselves.
But entering Sunday, they’re better off than the Colts — again.