When fires start, they often seem to require a double-take in order for the brain to fully comprehend a sense of emergency. The first look is one to ensure that all is well. The second look is to challenge the idea that smoke, heat and flickering light aren’t rapidly climbing a curtain in the house, bent for destruction. The second look also alerts us to fully engage in a state of panic.
This process comes to mind when thinking about the 2022 Colts, who, on Monday, let the world know that they’ve permanently benched Matt Ryan in favor of Sam Ehlinger. Before this season started, and even up until last week, one could safely glance over at the roster, the record, the personalities and the people involved and think all was well. Ryan and Frank Reich together? What could go wrong? Maybe a whiff of burning leaves, a little plume of something oddly colored, but nothing to trigger the alarm.
As of Monday, with yet another of Indianapolis’s veteran quarterbacks effectively receiving his walking papers, we have turned to look again, this time at a fully formed blaze.
