Dear Colts, you traded for Jacoby Brissett for THIS EXACT REASON

Expectations for Scott Tolzien’s first start of 2017 were exceedingly low. And somehow, he managed to slide right beneath them without ever having to worry about hitting his head.

Tolzien was a disaster Sunday, leading the Colts to slaughter against a Los Angeles Rams team that won just four games in 2016.

Tolzien spotted his opponent 14 points through a pair of entirely predictable pick-sixes. These weren’t the kinds of throws that get tipped in traffic or slip through receivers’ hands — they were underthrown outs a high school cornerback could have turned into points.

The only thing keeping him from tying a league record with his third pick-six was a blatant facemask by his own receiver.

This would be a harsh taste of reality if the Colts had no other options to take an injured Andrew Luck’s place in the lineup. However, Indianapolis made a move to remedy their horrible case of the Tolziens (occasionally known as the Painters, but also applicable to whichever mediocre Big Ten passer Indianapolis hands its No. 2 job) in the run up to the regular season. Instead, allowing a better prospect to languish for three quarters on the bench made Sunday’s game a bitter pill.

Eight days before Sunday’s massacre, the Colts traded former first-round draft pick Phillip Dorsett to the Patriots in exchange for third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Brissett, in his second year as a pro, entered 2017 1-1 as a starter with an 83.9 rating. Tolzien, in his sixth year, is 0-2-1 and sports a 66.4 rating. While Tolzien may have known the system much better, his ceiling was a ranch home compared to Brissett’s Victorian.

Brissett eventually earned the chance to play, it just took the Colts nearly 46 minutes of watching Tolzien loft butterfly passes to no one in particular to change their mind. By that point, the Rams led 37-3. His first pass of the game was a jump ball downfield — but also a 50-yard completion. Two plays later, Indianapolis scored its first touchdown of the season.

Brissett could have injected a bit of excitement to a moribund offense, and while it may not have led to a win, it would have at least been interesting. Instead, Colts fans had to watch Tolzien operate knowing one passing touchdown was Sunday’s upper bound.

The Colts punted on a winnable game, a loss that could come back and bite them in January. Last season, Indianapolis went 8-8 while the Texans and Titans competed for the AFC South crown at 9-7. In 2015, the Colts were 8-8 and one game behind division champ Houston. Losing one game in the league’s weakest division could have major repercussions — though after giving up 27 points in 30 minutes to the Rams (dead last in scoring with 14 points per game last fall), those postseason aspirations may have been dead on arrival.

Brissett still has plenty to prove. His biggest moment so far boils down to one play in garbage time against a weak opponent. However, it only took Jacoby Brissett one snap to be more exciting than Scott Tolzien. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be the team’s starter for next week’s game against the Cardinals.