The Colts Are Copying the Vikings Old Way of Doing Things
Dustin Baker
|
In a quest to nail down the QB1 spot after Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement in 2019, the Indianapolis Colts are copying the 1990s Vikings way of doing things.
On Monday, the Colts traded for Matt Ryan from the Atlanta Falcons, reportedly for a 3rd-Round pick.
Matt Ryan will become the Colts fifth QB1 in five years.
In a league absolutely dominated by quarterback performance — especially from a narrative standpoint — Indianapolis will stop at nothing to try something at QB1.
After the panic of Luck’s retirement, the Colts auditioned Jacoby Brissett for a season. That flopped as Brissett wasn’t as prolific as, for example, Deshaun Watson, who played in the division and still possessed a sterling reputation.
Then in 2020, the Colts tried Philip Rivers on for size, a relatively successful experiment as Indianapolis reached the postseason and damn near toppled the Buffalo Bills in the tournament. But Rivers didn’t author enough firepower down the stretch of the playoff game to advance, so the Colts dipped from the 2020 postseason. Soon after, Rivers retired.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”974733″ player=”26281″ title=”WATCH%20Julio%20Jones%20%204%20likely%20landing%20spots” duration=”80″ description=”The Titans have opted to release Jones with a post-June 1 designation. This means that they’ll save a whopping $11.51 million against the 2022 NFL salary cap. Tennessee was just $700,000 under the cap before making this surprising decision.” uploaddate=”2022-03-17″ thumbnailurl=”undefined” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/974578/974578.m3u8″ width=”16″ height=”9″]
Well, the Colts needed a quarterback for 2021, trading with the Philadelphia Eagles for Carson Wentz, who reunited with his Eagles whisperer as head coach, Frank Reich. Like the Brissett trial, Wentz in Indiana flopped. The Colts collapsed down the stretch, only needing to beat the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars for a playoff berth in Week 18. They didn’t. Indianapolis missed the postseason.
Resultantly, the Colts had seen more than enough from the North Dakota State alumnus and traded Wentz to the Washington Commanders a week and a half ago — now fully tilting on the quarterback carousel. The Commanders, alas, will try to reignite prime Wentz from the 2017 and 2018 seasons — a mammoth task to undertake.
Wouldn’t you know it — the Colts were quarterbackless again, nibbling at the Baker Mayfield Sweepstakes and firmly on the outside of Deshaun Watson trade chatter because the two teams reside in the same division.
So, Indianapolis settled on Matt Ryan, an expensive player who turns 37 in May.
The last handful of years for the Colts at quarterback?
- 2018 = Andrew Luck
- 2019 = Jacoby Brissett
- 2020 = Philip Rivers
- 2021 = Carson Wentz
- 2022 = Matt Ryan
And here’s what the Vikings did in the 1990s:
- 1990 = Rich Gannon / Wade Wilson
- 1991 = Rich Gannon / Wade Wilson
- 1992 = Rich Gannon / Sean Salisbury
- 1993 = Jim McMahon / Sean Salisbury
- 1994 = Warren Moon
- 1995 = Warren Moon
- 1996 = Warren Moon
- 1997 = Brad Johnson / Randall Cunningham
- 1998 = Randall Cunningham / Brad Johnson
- 1999 – Jeff George / Randall Cunningham
Feel familiar? It should.
And it didn’t work for Dennis Green’s Vikings.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
Purple PTSD Also Read: How Adam Thielen Earned His Spot in Minnesota