Week 16 is just complete, and we're already losing big names for Week 17. The Colts placed Carson Wentz on the COVID list today, and Wentz is unvaccinated. Most likely he'll need to miss this week's game against the Raiders, making a must-win game for Indianapolis more challenging.
On the bright side for Colts fans, Wentz has been a game manager in a lot of the team's wins lately anyway, with Jonathan Taylor leading the way. Here are Wentz's passing numbers in Indianapolis' nine wins.
| WENTZ IN WINS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Com | Att | Yards | TDs |
| at Mia. | W 27-17 | 24 | 32 | 228 | 2 |
| Hou. | W 31-3 | 11 | 20 | 223 | 2 |
| at S.F. | W 30-18 | 17 | 26 | 150 | 2 |
| NYJ | W 45-30 | 22 | 30 | 272 | 3 |
| Jac. | W 23-17 | 22 | 34 | 180 | 0 |
| at Buf. | W 41-15 | 11 | 20 | 106 | 1 |
| at Hou. | W 31-0 | 16 | 22 | 158 | 1 |
| N.E. | W 27-17 | 5 | 12 | 57 | 1 |
| at Ariz. | W 22-16 | 18 | 28 | 225 | 2 |
So Wentz threw for even 230 yards in just one of those games, and in three of them he attempted 20 or fewer passes. It can be done.
You can say that Taylor is helped by the threat of Wentz being around to throw downfield, and that might not be as successful with sixth-rounder Sam Ehlinger in the lineup. But Ehlinger looked OK at times in the preseason -- threw 3 interceptions, but led a couple of field-goal drives in his limited work with backups and also scrambled 10 times for 41 yards.
There's also the possibility that the Colts will reach out to Philip Rivers, as the Saints reportedly did last week. That would be interesting, although it's uncertain whether Rivers is in shape and ready to run an offense. Nice season a year ago, but watching him creak around like he was nailed to the turf, I don't recall ever thinking, yeah, he's got another year or two left in him.
I'm not suggesting anyone should put Ehlinger (or Rivers) in a fantasy lineup, but I think he might be serviceable running the offense and handing it off to Taylor. Better than Ian Book last night, at least.
--Andy Richardson