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Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles
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I think that the horrible offensive line for the first 3/4 of the season had a lot to do with the poor quarterbacking last year ...... it was a minor miracle that an immobile, 37 year-old Matt Ryan had somehow managed to have a 4-3-1 record after his first 8 games with that offensive line. The Colts were on the verge of being 5-3-1 with Ryan at quarterback when the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles mounted a late comeback to score 14 points in the final 13 minutes of the game, and barely win by a score of 17-16. Once Ryan was shell-shocked and knew that the defensive front would be in his face less than 2 seconds after the ball was snapped, it was mostly a vicious downhill cycle after that with Ryan having to get rid of the ball too quickly, getting sacked and getting injured, etc.
Sam Ehlinger also had to deal with that awful offensive line in 2 mid-season games against the Commanders and the Patriots. And by the time that he and Nick Foles re-entered the picture for the final 3 games of the season for an injured, battered, and shell-shocked Matt Ryan, the season was an irreparable mess. The offensive line had made a modest improvement over the last few games of the season, but again, all was lost by that time for the 2022 Colts.
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And that awful offensive line play followed Reich to Carolina, meanwhile the same group suddenly got a lot better with new coaches. Better QB play was also a factor, but so was better coaching, better playcalling, etc.