Definitely not the plan was this.
Not with Plan A, anyhow. The centrepiece of the Colts’ adaptable blueprints, which they drew with room to grow as they figured out how to best utilise their rookie quarterback’s extraordinary gifts, was Anthony Richardson.
It’s unlikely that Indianapolis’ current actions are even a backup plan. Halfway through the season, Richardson was probably supposed to take over for Gardner Minshew as the primary backup, in case the rookie wasn’t ready right away.
Rather than using their backup quarterback in the starting lineup for the majority of the season, the Colts were forced to adopt the emergency option that so many NFL teams have been forced to shatter glass to obtain in 2023.
Shane Steichen has been the backup plan’s most successful player for all those other teams.
Despite losing Richardson to a season-ending shoulder injury, losing their main tight end, Jelani Woods, for every game thus far, and losing their best playmaker, Jonathan Taylor, twice this season, the Colts are eighth in the NFL in terms of scoring per game.
Finding a way to win, whatever that means, is, in Minshew’s opinion, a lot of what Shane constantly says. “We need to adjust and make it work because they’re going to try to take something away.”
Grover Stewart, a DT for the Colts, has returned from his PED ban.
When an offence succeeds after losing its starting quarterback, it’s usually because the backup performs better than anyone anticipated. Minshew has proven to be reliable in crucial situations, most notably last week’s overtime victory over Tennessee.
The most impressive aspect of Steichen’s work is that the Colts continue to score points even though Minshew is playing up to rather than below his reputation as a reliable backup quarterback.
This season, Minshew has committed nearly as many turnovers (12) as touchdowns (13).
With an 83.7 quarterback rating, the Colts backup is ranked 24th among qualified passers in the NFL. If all starters are counted, he falls to 30th, behind only Richardson, who had an 87.2 rating prior to his injury. Expected points added, or EPA—a sophisticated metric that considers the outcome of every play rather than just passing plays—places the seasoned backup in 21st place.
Minshew has mostly been as advertised, a backup capable of keeping the offense afloat, a trait that sounds like a low bar to clear but has been shown to be much more difficult this season than a lot of fans realize. It’s something teams like the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings are finding out this season.
The Browns and Vikings remain in the playoff race despite their issues at quarterback.
But they’re not scoring at the clip the Colts are. To put the Indianapolis achievement so far into perspective, the seven teams ahead of the Colts in scoring — Dallas, Miami, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Detroit and Baltimore — feature six quarterbacks ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in quarterback rating, and the only one who’s not, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, has put up 430 yards and 12 touchdowns in the running game, production that dwarf’s Minshew’s 52 yards and three scores.
Indianapolis keeps scoring anyway.
“Our guys are fighting and scrapping,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said, whose unit has also benefitted from the team placing second in the NFL in defense/special teams with four touchdowns. “We keep finding a way.”
A schedule that doesn’t feature a lot of the NFL’s best teams has helped.But a lot of teams in the Colts’ position are floundering, regardless of the schedule. Indianapolis has found ways to score points in a lot of different ways.
For example, the Indianapolis ground game has been inconsistent — the Colts rank in the middle of the pack in rushing offense — but Taylor and Zack Moss have put together big games, and the Colts have rushed for more than 125 yards seven times.
Michael Pittman Jr. ranks fourth in the NFL in receptions. The team’s other two primary receivers, Josh Downs and Alec Pierce, have turned in big days and big catches in key spots. Steichen, Cooter and the rest of the Colts offensive staff keep manufacturing explosive plays by dipping into their deep bag of tricks, then pulling them out at the right time.
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The Colts have also gotten Minshew to minimize his turnovers since he coughed up the ball eight times in two games in back-to-back losses after Richardson’s injury, and even though there are shaky moments throughout games, he typically stays in the fray and keeps fighting.
The win over the Titans was a good example.
Minshew had a handful of key mistakes — a fumble in the red zone, a missed throw that led to a defensive two-point conversion, two missed would-be touchdowns to Pierce, a play where he slid down two yards short of the first-down marker — but the rest of the Colts kept him in the game. Then, in overtime, Minshew hit a 55-yard bomb to Pierce, and fired the game-winner to Pittman two plays later.
“I mean, shoot, I know it wasn’t pretty the whole time,” Steichen said. “I’m saying, the whole game, right? It was back-and-forth with all that stuff. But to have that game-winning drive right there, that says a lot about (Minshew), his preparation that he puts into it, his character, and the way he goes out competes.
But the Colts coaching staff seems to be finding ways to put Minshew in better situations.
“It’s a relationship, just like any other,” Minshew said. “You’ve got to grow it and build it. I think as we go along, the trust gets there, and our communication gets a little better. I think we’re definitely hitting our stride a little bit.”
The push for the playoffs will test the Colts offense a little bit.
But Steichen’s already shown he can still get Indianapolis on the scoreboard, even if the stride doesn’t look as smooth as they’d hoped.
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