Frustrations billowing out as Colts continuing struggles put playoff hopes in jeopardy

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts’ frustration started billowing out of Lucas Oil Stadium after Sunday’s loss to Buffalo.

Fans booed. Coach Shane Steichen and quarterback Joe Flacco accepted blamed for their mistakes. Pro Bowl cornerback Kenny Moore II even questioned the team’s effort.

No, it’s not a good look with Indy’s playoff hopes sputtering, and the Colts find themselves in a familiar spot — trying to create a midseason turnaround.

“I don’t think everybody is working as hard as possible, and obviously it’s showing.” Moore said after a third straight loss. “I’m not the type to sugarcoat it. I don’t think the urgency is there, I don’t think the details are there, I don’t think the effort is there and I don’t see everything correlating from meetings to practice to the games and it shows.”

Steichen said he addressed the concerns during Monday’s regular team meeting and attributed Moore’s comments largely to just disappointment with losing.

“They all want to win, everyone wants to win and people want to see results, right?” Steichen said. “And we want to see results as bad as everybody else.”

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The defense largely has done its job since getting healthy, and it has certainly outplayed an offense struggling to score touchdowns even before Steichen benched second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson and his 44.0% completion rate in favor of the 39-year-old Flacco.

He reiterated Monday that Flacco will start Sunday at the New York Jets.

Steichen has seemingly tried everything. He gave Richardson and running back Jonathan Taylor ample time to recover from early season injuries before putting them back in the lineup. He let Michael Pittman Jr. try to play through a back injury that was supposed to keep him off the field for multiple weeks — until deactivating him Sunday.

Indy has mixed and matched bodies along an injury-riddled offensive line and, so far, not much has worked. The Colts (4-6) have struggled to sustain drives or score points and now the turnovers are increasing.

“We’ve got to give them something to cheer about,” Steichen said, referring to the boos on Sunday. “Obviously, we’re not moving the ball. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to go back, and freaking get it cleaned up. We’ve got a lot of football left.”

Seven games, to be exact.

But the good news is with the exception of a game against the one-loss Detroit Lions, Indy has finished the toughest part of its schedule — tied with Cincinnati one game behind Denver for the AFC’s seventh and final playoff spot.

Could the Colts still make a postseason push? Anything’s possible.

But first, Indy must solve the most obvious source of its building frustration.

“Not winning,” Moore said. “Period.”

What’s working

Takeaways. One week after forcing three turnovers at Minnesota including a fumble return for their only touchdown, the Colts kept things close against Buffalo by picking off Josh Allen twice. They now have six takeaways in the past three weeks.

What needs work

Quarterback play. Whether it’s Richardson’s inaccuracy or Flacco’s six turnovers over the past two weeks, the Colts simply need better play behind center. It’s been a glaring problem each of the past three weeks, all losses.

Stock up

WR Adonai Mitchell. The former Texas star came under heavy scrutiny for dropping passes in the first half of his rookie season. But a big catch against Minnesota gave Mitchell a fresh start, and he responded Sunday with his best game — six catches for 71 yards.

Stock down

Backup running backs. While Taylor logged 21 carries for 114 yards against Buffalo, the workload for his backups almost vanished. WR Ashton Dulin’s one carry for 7 yards was the only other rush logged by an Indy player.

Injuries

Indy played without Pittman for the first time, and after losing RG Will Fries to a season-ending leg injury, putting Pro Bowl C Ryan Kelly (knee) on injured reserve last week and seeing LT Bernhard Raimann (knee) unable to finish Sunday’s game, Indy was relegated to going with three rookie offensive lineman — LT Matt Goncalves, C Tanor Bortolini and RG Dalton Tucker. It could stay that way until Raimann returns.

Key number

294 — That’s the Colts average total yards per game since Flacco was selected as the starter two weeks ago.

Next steps

Indy’s season has unraveled because of an offense that has shown little punch. While it’s run the ball well, at times, it has struggled to find any consistency through the air. The result has been a lack of touchdowns. If the Colts don’t find a solution next weekend, the same obstacles will exist.

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