The Indianapolis Colts made a significant change to the offensive side of the ball this week as Sam Ehlinger will take over the starting quarterback role from veteran Matt Ryan.
Considering their standing in the AFC South and the fact that they have a 1-3-1 record in the division, the playoff hopes are likely out of reach. For many, this change at quarterback signifies that the team is likely conceding the season, understanding the risk that comes with making a change like this.
But head coach Frank Reich made it clear that there are no intentions of waiving the white flag halfway through the 2022 campaign.
“It is a long time, but anybody who knows Sam (Ehlinger) knows he’s made for moments like this, right? Is he going to go in and be the offensive player of the week? I’m not saying that,” Reich said Wednesday. “Will he have growing pains? Absolutely, he’ll have growing pains but I can tell you this for sure, there is nobody waiving the white flag. That is not in the DNA. It’s not in my DNA, it’s not in our players’ DNA. I would never do that in a million years. I just couldn’t do that.”
The Colts have a long road to being a relevant playoff team. Their division record will make it incredibly difficult to win any tiebreakers should they surprisingly make a run during the second half of the campaign.
But with Ehlinger under center, the Colts believe the offense will have a better shot at mitigating the negative plays that have come from the offensive line.
“This is about – we’re trying to win a championship. That starts with winning an AFC South championship. We’re still in position to do that. As you said, we are in better position than we were in some previous years, but we have a long way to go,” Reich said. “We haven’t proven as an offense that we should be seriously considered for that. We haven’t, not as an offense, but we have an opportunity to turn that around and that’s what we’re going to try and do.”
With the trade deadline approaching the Tuesday after the Week 8 game against the Commanders, a lot of eyes will be on the Colts. Do they become sellers for the first time in Chris Ballard’s tenure?
That remains to be seen, but the Colts made this move at quarterback in hopes of sparking something in the offense to make a last-minute run for a playoff spot—even if those hopes are likely out of reach.
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