Tag: tyler goodson

5 reasons the Colts missed the playoffs

Here are five reasons the Colts missed the playoffs in 2023.

Playoffs weren’t even a thought for those outside of the Indianapolis Colts organization heading into the 2023 season.

But thanks to Shane Steichen’s coaching, the team had a chance to crack into the postseason late in the campaign. However, they came up short in their Week 18 matchup against the Houston Texans.

The reasons why they missed a chance for a Super Bowl run aren’t as negative as it was for this franchise a year ago, but there are still factors on why they found themselves on the outside looking in.

Resolving these issues will be key for the Colts moving forward if they want to compete starting in 2024.

Here are five reasons why the Colts missed the playoffs in 2023:

Colts’ Shane Steichen explains failed fourth-down call

Here’s what Shane Steichen said about the crucial fourth-down call.

The Indianapolis Colts saw their season slip away as the fourth-down pass from Gardner Minshew to Tyler Goodson hit the turf on what would have been a first down.

Facing a fourth-and-one at the Texans 15-yard line with 1:03 remaining in the game, head coach Shane Steichen dialed up a quick pass to the flat against a blitzing Texans defense.

The play call worked perfectly. Goodson was wide open to the flat with plenty of room for more to gain. The execution was far from perfect.

Minshew’s throw was just behind Goodson enough to force the running back to flip his body instead of working upfield. The pass still hit Goodson square in the hands—a ball he should have caught.

Instead, the ball fell to the turf, and the Colts watched their season end on a quick pass to the flat.

“The play we had up, we had to look for it. It was man-to-man coverage and just it didn’t work out,” Steichen said. “Felt good about (Tyler) Goodson in that situation. He’s a pass catcher for us in the backfield and it is what it is.”

Part of the several questions about the play surround the personnel. With the season on the line, why not trust Jonathan Taylor, the running back the team paid $42 million just a few months ago?

Steichen didn’t give much in the way of an answer about the personnel usage. Instead, he continued to back the mindset of making the correct call.

“Yeah, they were in a man-to-man defense. Felt good about the call,” Steichen said. “Yeah, I had full confidence in that play in that situation, and I went with my gut, and I saw the look and that’s what we went with.”

It’s a tough pill to swallow for Colts fans. They watched the season slip away on a play that should have been made.

And a lot of the offseason will be wondering what if…?

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Former Colts WR T.Y. Hilton reacts to Jonathan Taylor not getting the ball with Texans game on the line

Should the Colts have thrown the ball to Jonathan Taylor instead of Tyler Goodson?

At least one former Indianapolis Colts player seems to think that his old team should’ve put the 2023 season in the hands of another player.

After the Colts fell to the Houston Texans on Saturday for a chance at the playoffs with a brutal drop from running back Tyler Goodson, former Indy wide receiver T.Y. Hilton took to social media and appeared to advocate for another option on the play.

Hilton imagined a world where the Colts threw the ball to elite running back Jonathan Taylor instead of Goodson. Hilton thinks Taylor would’ve caught it.

Goodson’s drop (and quarterback Gardner Minshew’s throw) will be scrutinized within the Colts fandom for quite some time, and Hilton might be speaking for plenty of Indy fans who wonder why coach Shane Steichen didn’t give Taylor the ball in such a critical situation.

Taylor is far and away the Colts’ best player, and it’s very hard not to imagine how this play would’ve gone with Taylor running that quick route instead of Goodson.

It’s all water under the bridge now, as the Texans kept the season alive and the Colts headed home with more questions than answers over the play that sent them there.

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What was Shane Steichen thinking on the Colts’ last offensive play?

The Colts are out of the playoff picture after their loss to the Texans, and everybody wants to know about Shane Steichen’s final play call.

Shane Steichen has been great for the most part in his first season as the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach, but it’s tough not to wonder what Steichen, who’s the Colts’ offensive shot-caller as well, was thinking on what turned out to be his team’s final offensive play of the 2023 NFL season.

With 1:06 left in the game, and the Colts down 23-17, Indianapolis had the ball on the Houston 15-yard line on fourth-and-1. Quarterback Gardner Minshew tried to drive the defense offside before calling a time out, and then, THIS happened. A bad throw from Minshew, and a bad catch attempt from undrafted rookie running back Tyler Goodson, and the Colts’ postseason hopes went right down the drain.

Having Taylor off the field in that instance was certainly… interesting. The star back had left the field earlier in the game with a heel injury, but on the drive that led to that last failed play, he carried the ball nine times for 23 yards. Maybe Steichen thought Taylor needed a breather, or perhaps Taylor re-aggravated his injury, but that put the Colts at a personnel disadvantage. Taylor had run 30 times for 188 yards and a touchdown in the game.

“Yeah, he was all right,” Steichen said of Taylor. “The play we had up, we had to look for it. It was man-to-man coverage and just it didn’t work out.

“Obviously we called time out there. It was fourth-and-one, we saw the front they were in and we liked the look for that play in that situation.

“Felt good about Goodson in that situation. He’s a pass-catcher for us in the backfield. and it is what it is.”

Welp.

Secondly, while the Colts throw the ball frequently on fourth down — Minshew had 20 fourth-down attempts coming into this game — and while 17 of those passes came out of shotgun, by rolling with shotgun and taking Taylor out of the game, the Colts were telegraphing their intent to Houston’s defense. Maybe the play call would have worked had Goodson caught the ball, and we’d prefer to deal with process over outcome, but when the outcome takes you out of the playoffs, that’s a tough one.

Third, Minshew had completed 13 of 24 passes for 141 yards in this game, and he was inaccurate more than he was accurate. So again, the play call was fine. But the circumstances surrounding it will draw questions through a long offseason for the Colts.

“Man, I thought it was a great call — a perfect look.” Minshew said after the game. “It was just one of those plays.”

Colts’ Zack Moss downgraded to OUT vs. Falcons

Zack Moss (forearm) has been downgraded to OUT for Week 16.

Indianapolis Colts running back Zack Moss (forearm) was downgraded from questionable to out ahead of the Week 16 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, the team announced Saturday.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering Moss failed to log a practice all week. The fact that he was given a questionable injury designation was slightly a bigger surprise.

While Moss’ absence certainly hurts the depth of the backfield, the Colts will see the return of star running back Jonathan Taylor from a three-week absence following thumb surgery. Taylor was a full participant at practice all week.

The Colts also have Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson on the active roster so they will be going with three backs on Sunday with Taylor seeing the majority of the work.

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Colts make several roster moves after suspending two players

The Colts made some roster moves after suspending two players.

The Indianapolis Colts made several roster moves Tuesday after announcing self-imposed suspensions of cornerback Tony Brown and wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, the team announced Tuesday.

It isn’t clear what led to the suspensions, which were listed due to conduct detrimental to the team. Both Brown and McKenzie were healthy scratches for the Week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers so there is likely a connection.

The Colts announced more roster moves after the suspensions Tuesday, including one player being added to the active roster.

5 takeaways from Colts’ 30-13 win over Steelers

Here are five takeaways from the Colts’ 30-13 win over the Steelers.

It looked like it was going to be another week where things were going to go wrong for the Indianapolis Colts.

Following a shanked missed 56-yard field goal attempt by Matt Gay, the Pittsburgh Steelers marched down the field for a touchdown, but missed the PAT attempt to make it a 6-0 game. On the following drive for the Colts, they would go three-and-out, and the Steelers blocked the punt to set up their second touchdown of the game for the 13-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Then the game got flipped upside down. Indy would score a touchdown to respond to Pittsburgh and would go on to score 30 unanswered points despite losing Michael Pittman Jr. and Zack Moss in the second quarter.

This win ended the eight-game losing streak to the Steelers and the Colts are now 7-0 when they have the lead at halftime.

This was a crucial win for Indianapolis with the Cincinnati Bengals winning early today to keep their playoff hopes alive entering the final three weeks.

Here are five takeaways from Indy’s victory:

Studs and duds from Colts’ 30-13 win vs. Steelers

Taking a look at the studs and duds from the Colts’ 30-13 win over the Steelers.

The Indianapolis Colts (8-6) continued their playoff push with a 30-13 win at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7) on Saturday.

It wasn’t pretty in the first half, especially as the Colts were down 13-0 early on after a missed field goal, a touchdown drive allowed and then a blocked punt that led to another Pittsburgh touchdown.

But the Colts were able to prevail thanks to some big plays by the passing offense after Gardner Minshew gave Indianapolis their first lead as they took a 14-13 halftime lead.

From there, the Colts outscored Pittsburgh 16-0 in the second half as they cruised to a convincing 30-13 victory.

Here’s a look at the studs and duds from the Week 15 win:

Colts elevate RB Tyler Goodson from practice squad

Tyler Goodson was elevated from the practice squad.

The Indianapolis Colts elevated running back Tyler Goodson from the practice squad to the active roster for the Week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team announced Friday.

Goodson will be elevated for the third consecutive game, which means he can no longer be elevated for gamedays after this week. If the Colts want him on the roster for gamedays, he will need to be promoted to the active roster.

With Jonathan Taylor (thumb) ruled out for the third consecutive game, Goodson will work on special teams while splitting snaps with Trey Sermon providing depth behind starter Zack Moss.

The Colts also announced defensive end Derek Rivers was placed on the practice squad injured list with an undisclosed injury.

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Colts’ Grover Stewart activated from suspended list

Grover Stewart has officially been activated.

The Indianapolis Colts activated defensive tackle Grover Stewart from the suspended list and waived wide receiver Juwann Winfree, the team announced Saturday.

Stewart just concluded a six-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy. He will slot right into his typical starting role as the one-technique defensive tackle next to DeForest Buckner.

Also, the Colts elevated running back Tyler Goodson and wide receiver D.J. Montgomery from the practice squad to the active roster for the Week 14 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Goodson will provide some depth and special teams contributions with Jonathan Taylor (thumb) still on the mend. Montgomery also will work on special teams as the No. 5 wide receiver on the game-day roster.

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