Frank Reich was fired as coach of the Troubled Colts

One day after one of the Indianapolis Colts’ worst offensive performances in recent memory, the team fired fifth year coach Frank Reich.

The Colts’ 26-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday was their third consecutive defeat. This was the latest example of their deep offensive challenges that are starting to look insurmountable despite a recent quarterback change from Matt Ryan to me Sam Ellinger And the firing of attack coordinator Marcus Brady last week.

Reich, 60, was 40-33-1 (.547) in the regular season and had a 1-2 record in two playoff games. It was a definite period of continuous rotation in a quarterback; The Colts had different starters on opening day in each of Reich’s five seasons, as the franchise struggled to find a quarterback to fill the shoes of Andrew Luck, who retired before the 2019 season. Carson Wentz And Ryan – finished in an ugly way (Wentz was traded after one season and Ryan was off the bench after seven starts).

The Colts have been falling apart since the end of last season, when Indianapolis lost their last two games despite only needing one victory to hit the post-season berth. The 2021 final, the 26-11 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars 3-14, was a particularly ugly performance that enraged owner Jim Irsai and prompted him to recommit to fixing the problems that led to the poor finish.

In the end, 2022 did not produce significantly different results.

Offensively, the Colts (3-5-1) are in the worst form of the Reich period. After Sunday’s game, the longtime NFL offensive coordinator and 2017 Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles pointed to the Colts’ frustration with being inept in attack, which is his area of ​​expertise.

“An offensive performance, that’s why I came here. This is my responsibility,” he said. “So, we have players. We have a lot of good enough players. I have to do a better job. It starts with me attacking. I need to do a better job of getting the players ready to play. Put the guys in a good position to win and get answers when we have problems.” “.

Lately, there have been no answers.

The Colts failed to convert any of their 14 attempts to strike back for third on Sunday, and tied for the worst singles game mark in the NFL in the past 30 years. Indianapolis produced 121 total offensive yards, the team’s lowest production since 1997 and Reich’s lowest by 84 yards.

Reich gained a reputation during his time at Indianapolis for his ability to bring the team back from the brink. The ponies were known to be slow at first, but they kept gathering constantly late in the seasons. The Colts started 1-5 in 2018 but finished 10-6 and made the playoffs. Last year, they started 1-4 before rising to 9-6, only to lose their last two regular season games.

What remains unclear is the fate of general manager Chris Ballard, the man who together formed the team that hired Reich.