Colts HC Shane Steichen gets real on elimination at hands of the Giants
12/29/2024 10:49 PM
The Indianapolis Colts watched their playoff drought extend to four seasons after Sunday. The 45-33 loss at the hands of the now 3-13 New York Giants knocked them out of postseason contention. Plus got Shane Steichen getting real about his team and the future.
Steichen one year ago lost an opportunity to clinch the AFC South over the Houston Texans. Now, his team dropped to 7-9. The second-year head coach shared a blunt assessment after the Giants loss, per WISH-TV news.
Shane Steichen addresses Colts future after Giants loss
The Colts still were mathematically alive for a playoff spot at 7-8 entering the venue. Indianapolis entered the venue ready to face an offense that was averaging a lowly 14.3 points per game.
New York, however, delivered a new season-best 45 points. Drew Lock even shredded the Colts with 309 passing yards. Steichen also lost to a head coach facing his own nebulous future in Brian Daboll.
This Colts loss, though, left many wondering if Steichen is possibly nearing an exit from Indy.
"I control what I can control," Steichen said to reporters.
Yet, he’s aware that next Sunday’s home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars comes with no playoff implications.
"I know it's a tough situation, obviously, when you're out of the playoff hunt, but again, I told [the team] we've got to be professional about it," Steichen said. "That's the biggest thing. We've got to show up and do our job still with one week left."
Whether if that game becomes his final one as Colts head coach remains to be seen. Steichen is currently 16-17 overall as head coach of the Colts. He’s coaching a team that hasn’t won the AFC South since 2014 — during a time Andrew Luck led the franchise as the starting quarterback. Worse for the Colts, they’re currently on their longest playoff drought since 1988 to 1994.
If Indianapolis chooses to fire Steichen after the season, the 39-year-old would become the shortest tenured Colts head coach since Lindy Infante — who coached the team for the 1996 and 1997 season. Infante got canned following a 3-13 season. That came before Indianapolis hired Jim Mora as head coach and took Peyton Manning as the No. 1 overall pick of the ’98 NFL Draft.
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