Indianapolis, IN — Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen is widely regarded for his offensive prowess. A modern-day savant on the side of the ball who scores points, most associate Steichen with being a top-tier play-caller and a quarterback guru of sorts.
He’s brought out the best of various quarterbacks during his time as an NFL coach (QBs Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Head Coach), coaching up the likes of Philip Rivers, Justin Herbert, and Jalen Hurts prior to his tenure in Indianapolis. Steichen has even provided three additional examples of raising a quarterback’s floor in just 2.5 seasons as the Colts head coach:
- As a first-year HC, took Gardner Minshew-led Colts to the brink of the playoffs
- 17th in PPG (22.2) with Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco at the helm
- Historical start to 2025 while resurrecting Daniel Jones
The proof is in the pudding that Shane Steichen gets the most out of his offenses, but even he takes it a step further. Steichen isn’t satisfied with leads or momentum; he wants to mentally break opposing defenses with the game within the game. These mind games are not a new addition to Steichen’s duffle bag full of tricks — oh, the contrary.
These aforementioned shenanigans have just recently resurfaced, but have been part of Steichen’s psyche since early in his tenure. He successfully employed his tactics twice in his first three games as Indy’s head coach and has looked for additional opportunities ever since.
Against the Houston Texans in Week 2 of the 2023-24 season, Shane Steichen gave Colts fans their first taste of such trickery. The Texans were amidst a 21-point 4th quarter comeback, and with 6:45 left on the game clock, a failed Colts 3rd down attempt meant 4th and 1 and momentum to go Houston’s way soon with a punt. The inevitable punt did happen, but not without Steichen leaving with something. Instead of just sending the punt unit out to do their job, they elected to send them out, soon thereafter breaking into a fire drill substitution with the offense, which therefore resulted in then-fellow rookie HC DeMeco Ryans burning an incredibly valuable timeout. Houston’s offense wasn’t able to muster up an opportunity for said timeout to matter, but this example just goes to show how invested in winning Shane Steichen has always been.
Steichen would do the exact same thing the week following against John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens, this time doubling down near the end of the first half, successfully stealing a timeout before Harbaugh called his bluff on the follow-up attempt.
Such bamboozling hasn’t stopped there, however. Just last week, against the Los Angeles Chargers, Steichen would get the other Harbaugh, Jim, to follow in his brother’s footsteps. This timeout, though, was more akin to that of his initial trickery against Houston way back when.
The Colts’ offense was playing catch-up with its defense as Justin Herbert and Co. were surging back from a hefty deficit in the second half. After finally getting stopped — after an untimely and unheard of 3-and-out, mind you — and being forced to punt with 12:48 left in the 4th quarter, Steichen recognized the momentum fading LA’s way and decided to hit them with the unexpected.
To follow the examples that preceded this one, Steichen was always going to punt here; he just wasn’t going down without a fight. Especially doing so against longtime coaches like the Harbaughs is what’s most impressive. These coaches are aware that, since an offense is allowed to give a full substitution, the officiating crew has to allow the defense to match. Knowing this, you can almost manipulate the remaining time clock as you slowly trot your defense out, but instead, panic ensues.
Creating advantages through the game within the game has always been expressed as something coaches should do; however, oftentimes, they’re too focused on the actual game at hand to readily employ such tactics. For Shane Steichen, though, this is where he thrives. Steichen is so prepared for the on-field product, and in particular his offensive game plan, that he’s naturally looking ahead to win anywhere else. He’s not afraid to pull the UNO reverse card, and that should instill additional fear into opposing defenses, given they are already dealing with the historical level the Colts offense is playing at.
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