Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen is among the most innovative offensive minds in the sport.
He has a bright future in Indy, provided he gets the most out of rising second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. Alas, Richardson has been injured since Week 5, so Steichen was stuck with Gardner Minshew under center with a win-and-in playoff scenario against the Houston Texans on Saturday night.
For all of Steichen’s schematic savvy, he needed one yard on a critical 4th and 1 with on the Texans 14-yard line. About a minute left in the fourth quarter. Superstar tailback Jonathan Taylor had run for 188 yards on 30 carries. Zach Moss had 30 yards on six totes and is proven to be reliable.
For whatever reason, Steichen didn’t go with either of them in the backfield, opting to leak out second-year UDFA Tyler Goodson into the flat. ICYMI, here’s how that turned out:
Dear lord. First off, let’s not put it all on Goodson. Not only is that a ridiculously massive spot to have your number called. Minshew put a legit terrible throw on him. Wrong shoulder. Kind of low. Not up on his face. Tough catch under any circumstances, never mind when your postseason hopes boil down to that play. If Goodson secures the catch and turns upfield, there’s no telling how far he’d have gone. At the very least, it’s a fresh set of downs.
Another point of mismanagement from Steichen was calling a timeout beforehand. Like bro, you burned an invaluable stoppage of the game clock to draw up that? Without Jonathan Taylor on the field? What? That’s just classic overthinking from a rookie head coach.
Fair counterpoint from ball-knower John Middlekauff here. I suppose I can accept it if that was indeed the rationale.
Speaking of rookie head coaches, though, DeMeco Ryans is going to the playoffs in his first year at the helm in Houston. The ex-Texans linebacker surged through the coaching ranks, and caught the good fortune of reigning No. 2 overall pick CJ Stroud as his QB.
Stroud put together one of the greatest rookie campaigns in NFL history. Might’ve actually been the best. He cleared 4,000 yards passing and only needed 15 starts to do it. Thought I saw that he went 7-for-7 for 82 yards on the go-ahead TD drive that was almost spoiled in the end by a missed extra point.
Among Stroud’s many quality throws on the night, how about a 75-yard bomb to open it up, or the one below that from the winning drive? SHEESH.
Congrats again to Houston. What a sh*t show of an organization that place was until Ryans and Stroud pulled up. How quickly things can change in the National Football League, baby!!
Didn’t want the Texans’ achievement to get totally lost in all this or to be overshadowed by the Colts’ late-game Goodson gaffe. Alrighty then, here are some of the best reactions to how that situation unfolded in real time.
