The Indianapolis Colts (4-8-1) will enter the bye week looking to regroup after a brutal loss against the Dallas Cowboys (9-3) in prime time.
The late bye week will serve as a nice break for both the players and the fans. It has been a whirlwind of a season that has included drama and disappointment both on and off the field.
In the latest rendition of the power rankings, the Colts remain near the bottom of the league. They currently have a top-10 pick in the 2023 NFL draft and could see that pick get even higher during the bye week.
Here’s a roundup of where the Colts sit in the power rankings during their week off:
USA TODAY
Author: Nate Davis
Rank: 30 (-4)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “Sunday night’s dreadful defeat at Dallas means Indianapolis has now been outscored by 89 points this season. Only the Texans have a worse point differential.”
Touchdown Wire
Author: Mark Lane
Rank: 28 (–)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “It’s almost like the Colts are a team led by an outside interim head coach with an assistant quarterbacks coach as their offensive coordinator. Indianapolis had been competitive and took a couple of teams by surprise, save for the past two weeks. Maybe they just aren’t cut out for prime time.”
Bleacher Report
Author: NFL Staff
Rank: 27 (-2)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “When the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s meeting between Dallas and Indianapolis opened. The Colts were down just two points. There was an opportunity for the Colts to notch a potentially season-saving upset.
Five unanswered touchdowns later, the Colts were on the wrong end of another ugly loss. And per Sobleski, that blowout only hammered home the fact that the 2022 Colts are a mess from top to bottom.
“Well, the Jeff Saturday experiment was fun while it lasted,” he said. “Owner Jim Irsay has now been smacked in the face by reality. An ill-advised hire—no matter how good of a leader or how much experience he had as a player—couldn’t correct the ills found within the Colts’ roster. It’s time for a reset in Indianapolis. Irsay already began with the coaching staff. General manager Chris Ballard shouldn’t be safe. Matt Ryan’s tenure behind center is coming to a miserable end. The Colts are a team about to enter a significant rebuild.”
Another dreadful effort from Ryan led to postgame questions about a potential switch at quarterback. But Saturday indicated that he’s not inclined to make a switch.
“From a quarterback perspective, you dig yourself a hole, you’ve got to get out,” Saturday said. “[Ryan] knows he didn’t play good. It doesn’t take us to tell him. But no, you don’t yank him. You work your way out. You’ve got to fix it and find a way to get better.”
Frankly, at this point it probably doesn’t matter anyway—Indy’s problems go well beyond one position.”
ESPN NFL Nation
Author: Stephen Holder
Rank: 28 (-1)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “We’re No. 1 in … turnovers.
The Colts lead the NFL in turnovers, and this distinction is the biggest reason they have been in shambles on offense. The Colts committed five turnovers in Sunday night’s epic loss at Dallas, with giveaways on four consecutive possessions in the Cowboys’ record 33-point fourth-quarter deluge. Between Matt Ryan’s league-leading 13 interceptions and the Colts’ league-high 12 lost fumbles, turnovers have completely undermined the Colts.”
Sporting News
Author: Vinnie Iyer
Rank: 27 (-4)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “The Colts were able to fight hard and find an offensive spark with Matt Ryan for almost three quarters in Dallas. But then the wheels of the turnover mess came falling off to remind everyone why of they’ve lost plenty of horsepower overall this season.”
Pro Football Network
Author: Dalton Miller
Rank: 27 (–)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “The Indianapolis Colts had another difficult assignment in Jeff Saturday’s fourth game as head coach. The Dallas Cowboys entered 4-1 since Dak Prescott’s return, and their offense has been the highest-scoring team in the league over that time. It showed again on Sunday Night Football.
Meanwhile, the Colts’ offense is the opposite. Matt Ryan struggled mightily and will probably quietly slide into retirement after the season, and Indianapolis will once again be on the hunt for a quarterback.
The Cowboys were too much to handle for Indianapolis on Sunday Night football. The loss drops the Colts to 4-8-1, with many questions surrounding their future. The game was closer than the final score. Five Cowboys touchdowns in the fourth quarter put the game as out of reach as a game can get.
The Colts game plan to run the ball early and often helped keep them in the game against Dallas. A few big plays downfield propelled the Colts passing attack, but the Indianapolis offense looked better than it had for quite some time.”
NFL.com
Author: Dan Hanzus
Rank: 31 (-4)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “The Jeff Saturday pop — presupposing such a thing ever actually existed — is no more for the Colts, who have reverted to the same hopelessly adrift operation they appeared to be before Frank Reich’s firing last month. Sunday night’s 54-19 massacre at the hands of the Cowboys was bizarre, given the lopsided nature of a 33-0 fourth quarter, but also because — prior to those final 15 minutes of carnage — the Colts were very much alive and in position to register a massive upset. Until they weren’t. On Monday, Saturday sounded like a coach ready to move some furniture around: “We’re gonna look at everything.” We suggest not too closely, Jeff.”
CBS Sports
Author: Pete Prisco
Rank: 27 (–)
Link to article
Author’s Take: “The Jeff Saturday excitement has waned. They are one of the bigger flops this season, as the Matt Ryan experiment seems to have failed.”
