4th and 8 was my 62-7 moment for the Ballard/Steichen regime.

[Dam8610]

Generally, I am much slower than most of this fanbase to the "Fire (insert coach or GM here)!" sentiment if I think said coach or GM is good at their job, and I think replacing them carries substantial risk of downgrading. The only coach or GM I can ever remember being quicker than most to the fire them bandwagon is Ryan Grigson, and that is because I think most of the members of this message board could've done better as a GM than he did in his tenure. Back in 2011, sentiment quickly built to fire Jim Caldwell and Bill Polian. I was not on board with that, because I thought that losing the best QB to ever play the game had a lot more to do with the 2011 results than an inability to evaluate or improve talent.

Then 62-7 happened.

That game made it clear that the team quit on Caldwell. Yes, the Saints were good, but even an outmanned team that was trying or cared wouldn't have allowed that result. The fact that they did made me realize that Caldwell had lost the locker room, and even if he was a good coach (which I believe he went on to prove he was for the Lions), he wasn't the right coach for this team moving forward. I still didn't like the idea of firing Polian, but clean front office breaks are easier to make, especially after a 2 win season.

That brings me to today. I've generally thought that Chris Ballard is a good talent evaluator, and Shane Steichen has shown the ability to get more out of an offense than any coach should be able to get. I still believe those things.

But this? This is unacceptable. You are on the road, facing what will likely be one of the best teams in the league, with one of the best QBs of all-time, AND you just got bailed out of a horrible turnover in the redzone. It's 4th and 8 on the 18 yard line, and you're down by 3. You have 2 options; either kick the field goal and pray that one of the best QBs to ever do it won't lead a field goal drive in over 3 minutes when he's done that in 13 seconds in much higher pressure situations, or rely on the strength of your team, your offense, to convert a difficult down and distance on a short field and get you the game winning score, never allowing that QB to get another opportunity to beat you. The first option is cowardly and foolhardy, because the best result you get in most cases is a tie, but very likely since Mahones is on the other team, you lose. The second option is not a great option, but it gives you the best chance to win the game, and it is much more palatable to go down swinging than to kick a field goal and pray you won't die the inevitable death of a thousand cuts that follows.

Steichen chose the first option. The cowardly, foolhardy option is the one he chose. The result was more predictable than fireworks on the Fourth of July in America. Mahomes gets the ball back, promptly marches down the field, and the Chiefs kick a game winning field goal. That decision showed me that Shane is not ready to make the tough but right call in a pressure situation. So even though there is likely a substantial risk of downgrade in replacing him, I believe that if the Colts don't go deep into the playoffs this year, the regime should change, because while they might be good, they're not what the team needs right now. And I don't think this team is capable of that with a head coach who looks at that 4th and 8 from the opponent's 18 yard line in overtime and decides, "Let's let one of the 5 best QBs in NFL history on the opposing sideline determine the outcome of this game," instead of taking the outcome out of his hands entirely.