Texas Football: Sam Ehlinger takes step back in second preseason game

After a clutch showing in his NFL preseason debut last week in a win over the Carolina Panthers, former Texas football star quarterback Sam Ehlinger took a step back in Week 2. Ehlinger got the call as the starting quarterback for head coach Frank Reich and the Indianapolis Colts in the team’s second preseason game on the night of Aug. 21.

The sixth-round pick of the Colts in the 2021 NFL Draft was hoping to parlay the momentum he built in last week’s comeback win over the Panthers to get a win over the Minnesota Vikings this weekend. But Ehlinger and the Colts just couldn’t get the offense off the ground in the first half.

In fact, neither the Vikings nor the Colts could get much going offensively for the entire game. This game ended in favor of the Colts, by the narrow final score of 12-10. The Colts got one field goal in every single quarter to get this two-point win in the Twin Cities.

Former Texas football star Sam Ehlinger doesn’t do great for Colts in a win over the Vikings

Ehlinger actually finished up this game with the lowest quarterback rating of any that got snaps for the Colts and/or Vikings. He finished up with a poor quarterback rating of 36.2. To get that bad quarterback rating in this win over the Vikings, Ehlinger registered eight completions on 13 passing attempts, good for 70 passing yards, no passing touchdowns, and two picks.

Ehlinger also put up 11 rushing yards on two carries, with no rushing scores.

Neither interception could really be faulted back to Ehlinger. The first pick he did throw into tight coverage, but it was tipped by the Colts wideout right to a Vikings DB for a run back for six. And the second pick was another tipped ball around the line of scrimmage. Both were bad bounces.

But Ehlinger still needs to find more open room with his throws. Both of these throws likely shouldn’t be made.

Nonetheless, there were still some good-looking throws in this game from Ehlinger. You can’t fault him for all of the bad bounces, and two bad drops from the Colts’ wide receivers. He had a key redzone drop in the second quarter that could’ve kept the team from getting its only touchdown of the game.

Meanwhile, the Colts did see fellow quarterback Jacob Eason put up a better stat line in this game. Eason got the snaps in the second half, registering 132 passing yards on 16 completions, with no passing touchdowns and no picks.

It’s hard to tell where the Colts’ quarterback competition lies at this point if Carson Wentz is set to miss any games during the early portion of the regular season slate. Wentz is the presumed starter, but Ehlinger and Eason look to be neck-and-neck behind him two games into the preseason.

Ehlinger and the Colts now hold a record of 2-0 in the preseason following the Aug. 21 win over the Vikings. Next up for the Colts, to round out the three-game preseason slate is a meeting with the Detroit Lions on the road at Ford Field on Aug. 27.