5 Things Learned, Colts vs. Chargers Week 16

1. The Colts’ effort is not in question.

While the Colts lost their fifth game in a row on Monday night, Jeff Saturday didn’t see his team quit – something he’s been pleased with since taking over as interim head coach a month and a half ago.

“Just the pride and effort, these guys lay it out there,” Saturday said. “I mean, I can’t tell you – I mean, I told them how grateful I am. The defense battling, that’s tough. It’s tough sledding man. Nothing – you know, nothing to play for, down, offense isn’t moving the ball. Them guys, they’re still laying hat, playing hard. I take a lot of pride in that. And I tell them, man, I’m so grateful and appreciative of how hard they do try to play. And, again, when all things are stacked against you, it shows you a lot about yourself. I think those guys, they are proving to themselves what they are as professional football players. And that’s true pros. And I’m grateful for what they’re doing.”

As quarterback Nick Foles pointed out, sometimes teams give good effort but still lose games in the NFL – and that’s where this Colts team sits with two games left in the 2022 season.

“It’s just unfortunate sometimes you can give it everything you have and the outcome is not what you thought,” Foles said. “And that’s the hard part of this game. But there’s also the time where you give everything you have and you win games and then you keep winning. And then you win a lot of games and then you make the playoffs. And I’m just fortunate I’ve seen both of them. And the biggest thing is, you know, you can be fighting every single down and lose a game like we did. But I’ve also been on some teams where we fought and we win. So, it’s just a unique game. That’s why we keep playing. It’s hard. It’s a very difficult game. But you learn a lot about yourself and the people you play with.”