The Colts’ awful defensive performance in Week 16 loss to the 49ers should cost someone their job but not who you might think
It should be the end of the line for one member of the Colts after the teams loss to the 49ers but not who many are pointing fingers at.
Just a week after one of the Indianapolis Colts’ best defensive performances of the season, they had by far their worst showing. The Colts fell to 9-7 on the season and have lost six of their last seven after an embarrassing 48-27 showing against the San Francisco 49ers.
Due to the defense’s poor showing, many fans are pointing fingers at defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. In reality, there’s not much he could have done to help this defense, and trust me, he tried just about everything. The person to blame for this loss and the season falling off the rails is the one who has deserved more of the blame over the past decade: general manager Chris Ballard.
It’s time for Chris Ballard to be fired, and to be honest, it’s been time for a while now
This is Ballard’s 10th season as the team’s GM, and if the team misses the playoffs this year (which looks pretty likely), he will have missed the playoffs in nine of those years. The leash he’s been given in Indianapolis is longer than just about any GM has ever been given in NFL history. The time has come for the Colts to move on, and if the team is honest with itself, it’s been time for a while now.
The biggest indictment of Ballard is the team’s lackluster pass rush. A position he has spent plentiful resources on, and yet it still remains the problem it has been for nearly his entire tenure. Injuries decimated the Colts’ secondary, but the team’s pass rush is simply not good, and that falls on Ballard.
The Colts’ choice to trade two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner could make them feel like they have to keep Ballard. That could happen, but it shouldn’t. The Colts desperately need a new voice leading their roster construction.
They won’t be an attractive job to top GM candidates due to not having their first-round picks or a clear answer at QB. However, it’s still one of 32 GM jobs in the NFL, a position that many around the league have worked their entire lives to attain. Someone would say yes, and the Colts have to go out there and find them.
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