The Indianapolis Colts collapsed in the last game of the season last year, losing to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars and missing out on the 2021 playoffs. Colts fans, media, and the organization as a whole placed the blame squarely on quarterback Carson Wentz and shipped him off to Washington. However, after replacing Wentz with Matt Ryan, the team picked up right where they left off, playing down to their opposition in a Colts Week 1 tie with the Houston Texans. Now, the Colts and their fans must face the harsh reality that they have bigger problems than just Wentz.

All the Colts needed to do in Week 18 of the 2021 NFL season was beat the 2-14 Jaguars, and they were in the playoffs.

The team couldn’t accomplish this meager feat, falling to Trevor Lawrence and the Jags, 26-11. Quarterback Carson Wentz didn’t play well at all in this game, going 17-of-29 for 185 yards with one touchdown, one interception, and taking six sacks.

During the 2022 offseason, the Colts traded Carson Wentz to the Commanders and “upgraded” the QB spot by trading for 37-year-old signal-caller Matt Ryan.

The Colts and their fans heralded this move as the change the team needed to get over the hump and get back to the playoffs. However, in the Colts Week 1 matchup with the Texans — supposedly one of the worst teams in the NFL this year — the team laid an egg and needed a furious late comeback to salvage a 20-20 tie.

Matt Ryan didn’t perform all that much better than Carson Wentz in the team’s opener vs. the Texans. The veteran QB was 32-of-50 for 352 yards with one TD, one INT, and he took two sacks.

In the first three quarters, the Colts’ drives went punt, field goal, loss of downs, interception, punt, fumble, punt. By the end of the third, Matt Ryan and company were down 20-3 to the Texans.