ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler dished out everything they are hearing around the NFL heading into Week 18. So what was said about the Indianapolis Colts?
Near the end of the article, where both Graziano and Fowler empty their notebooks, Fowler mentions that the folks he’s talked to “believe that (Chris) Ballard is in good standing,” but the Week 17 loss to the Giants “isn’t exactly helpful.”
Fowler goes on to add that the pulse before the game was that “Ballard might be OK.” Fowler concluded with, “it seems like anything can happen.”
I think what we really need to take note of from Fowler here is that what he was hearing about Ballard’s job status beyond the 2024 season was before the Colts’ embarrassing loss to New York.
That performance that the Colts put together, where they surrendered 38 points to the worst offense in football, in a game where they had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive is one that people can lose their jobs over.
You couple that with Ballard’s history as the GM of the Colts, which includes no division titles in a wide open AFC South and only two playoff appearances and one playoff win in eight years–along with missing the postseason for four straight years now–and one certainly doesn’t have to drum up any wild storyline as to why those thoughts and feelings from Fowler’s report on Ballard’s job security may have changed last Sunday.
The Colts have been stuck in a cycle of mediocrity–or worse–for some time now. One would think that to break free from it, something has to change, but we will remain in wait-and-see mode until the season concludes in a few days.