National Football League

How should the Colts proceed at quarterback for the rest of 2022?

Updated Dec. 9, 2022 12:21 p.m. ET

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Ben Arthur

AFC South Reporter

At first, after the Colts' humiliating 54-19 loss to the Cowboys, interim coach Jeff Saturday said Indianapolis would be sticking with Matt Ryan at quarterback. 

"Yeah, at this point, we're riding with what we've got," he said. 

Pressed further on why he's sticking with Ryan though, Saturday changed his tone. 

"It's five minutes after a beating," Saturday acknowledged. "No decision I'm going to make right now is going to be a good decision." 

With time to think, with the Colts (4-8-1) on their bye week before hitting the road again to face another strong team in the Vikings (10-2) in Week 14, Saturday should strongly consider turning to Nick Foles at quarterback. 

Indianapolis, after years of band-aids at football's most important position, has reached a point where it would be organizational malpractice to not draft a quarterback in the first round. But in a season that's going nowhere — one that has found a new rock bottom — the Colts have nothing to lose by giving Foles a chance to finish 2022. 

"We're heading into the bye week and, as we go through this, I told those guys, ‘It's a gut check,'" Saturday said. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. The only people that can fix it are the ones in there, so we've got to get it fixed and be better than we are right now."

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The appeals of Ryan, a shell of himself at 37, are clear: he's still one of the most clutch players in the NFL. Every Colts win this season has come down to a Ryan game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter or in overtime — the Chiefs game in Week 3, the Broncos game in Week 5, the Jaguars game in Week 6 and the Raiders game in Week 10. His four game-winning drives are tied for third-best in the league this season, despite the fact he's missed two games. No matter how dreadful the offense has been, it has had a chance down the stretch because of Ryan. 

But that doesn't overshadow how consistently turnover prone he's been. He leads the NFL with 13 interceptions (despite missing two games). He's had a turnover in eight of his 11 games. He's had at least two turnovers in seven games. And his 275 yards lost on 35 sacks leads the league by a wide margin (the Bears' Justin Fields is second, with 238 yards lost on 40 sacks), despite the fact that three quarterbacks have been sacked more than him. 

Season-long pass protection woes play into those issues, but that doesn't excuse Ryan's singular struggles. 

"Yeah, it's tough," Ryan said Sunday of finding success amid the giveaways. He had four turnovers, including three interceptions and a lost fumble, against the Cowboys. "You're not going to win many games when you turn it over as much as we did (on Sunday). So, it becomes difficult."

The Colts are adamant on finishing strong, even with infinitesimal playoff odds. 

They have a 0.9% chance of making the postseason, including a 0.4% chance of winning the AFC South, according to FiveThirtyEight. 

"We're going to find it; we're going to fix it," Saturday said. "And it's not going to be quick. Like I told (the players), ‘There's no Band-Aid to fix this. We've got to soul search and get better. We've got a four-game season and we need to see who we are.'"

They need someone who could be trusted, and why can't that be Foles?

Beyond his obvious experience — 69 appearances, including 56 starts, in 11 seasons — Foles has been in stress-filled situations before and thrived. The big one: in 2017 with the Eagles, after Carson Wentz tore his ACL in Week 14 against the Rams, he stepped in as the quarterback and helped lead Philadelphia to its first and only Super Bowl victory. As a backup, he finished the regular season with a 2-1 record, then completed 72.6% of his passes for 971 yards and six touchdowns with just one interception in three playoff games.

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The Colts have already tried second-year quarterback Sam Ehlinger, a sixth-round pick in 2021. His inexperience was apparent in the 26-3 blowout loss to the Patriots in Week 9, one of the worst offensive performances in franchise history. 

But Indianapolis hasn't tried Foles, who it signed to a two-year deal in the offseason. He's played just two offensive snaps this season, both of which came in the shutout loss to the Jaguars in Week 2. 

After being the No. 3 quarterback and inactive for most of the season, Foles was active for the Dallas game as Ryan's backup. Ehlinger was a healthy scratch. 

Saturday explained the decision. 

"Nick has been playing good. Sam has as well," Saturday started. "We were going to go more two-minute and those kinds of things. From just an operations perspective with what Dallas did, I just felt like experience mattered, but nothing more than that."

Why can't Foles be nothing more than a No. 2 or 3 quarterback this season? 

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Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur. 

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Ben Arthur