Late-season collapse still bothers me, but those weren’t the only games we blew

The Colts losing their last two games to the Raiders and Jaguars made them fall out of the postseason.

It also prompted significant doubt about quarterback Carson Wentz‘s future with the team.

But according to General Manager Chris Ballard, those two games weren’t the only problems the team had in 2021. During his press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, Ballard was asked about the late-season collapse. He paused for a few seconds before giving his answer.

“It still bothers me,” Ballard said. “But we lost to Baltimore in overtime, a game I thought we should’ve finished. We lost to Tennessee in overtime. We fumbled twice inside the 1 against the Rams. I know our pass rush needs to be better, but Tampa ran the ball right down our throat to win the game. So there was more than just those last two games that signified the end of our season.

“I know it all ended in a way we didn’t like. And we’ve closed out those situations in the past. In ’18, we had to beat Tennessee to get in, we did it. In ’20, we had to beat Jacksonville to get in and we did it. Last year we failed to do it with two opportunities to do it. But just to look at the two last games and say, well, those are the only two we blew? No, we had other opportunities during the season to get wins that we just didn’t get done.”

The Colts finished 9-8 in 2021. In five years as the Colts’ G.M., Ballard now has a 41-40 record with a 1-2 postseason record.

Chris Ballard: Late-season collapse still bothers me, but those weren’t the only games we blew originally appeared on Pro Football Talk