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    • Colts collapse with Joe Flacco vs Vikings, need QB Anthony Richardson
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    Colts collapse with Joe Flacco vs Vikings, need QB Anthony Richardson

    Vaseline Posted on

    The question, genius, is this: what now?

    What are the Indianapolis Colts doing? now?

    They tested the physical brilliance of 22-year-old Anthony Richardson at quarterback. They tried out the experienced knowledge of 39-year-old Joe Flacco. Both failed spectacularly. That’s what we call last week’s loss in Houston, a spectacular failure, when Richardson went 10-for-32 and walked off the field because he was tired, and that’s what we call Sunday night in Minnesota, where the Colts attacked. set a season-low — and set it much higher — in a 21-13 loss to the Vikings.

    So what now?

    Back to Richardson? Give No. 3 quarterback Sam Ehlinger a chance?

    Wait, I got it. The Colts activated fourth-string QB Jason Bean from Injured Reserve a few days ago, returning the Kansas rookie to the practice squad.

    Maybe it’s time for Jason Bean.

    Maybe it’s time to take a nap. Wake us up when the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around. By then, the Colts could have a workable solution to a knee-deep quarterback problem in Year 6.

    But probably not.

    Doyel from the camp: Rookie Jason Bean looks so good at QB, Colts are no longer moving him to WR

    Where is Michael Pittman Jr.?

    The Colts can’t win if Michael Pittman Jr. is not central to the attack. Not with tight ends who don’t make plays and running backs who can’t catch and a receiver room that’s decent, it really is, but it’s only decent if Pittman catches eight or 10 passes a game. If he catches one pass like he caught Sunday night — if he catches a total of eight passes in the past four games — then the Colts’ receiving room will be downgraded from decent to blind.

    By the way, Pittman seems injured. His back has been bothering him for weeks, and on Sunday he botched a Flacco pass thrown to Vikings safety Harrison Smith — you read that right — and appeared to injure the ring finger on his left hand in the process. That’s what Pittman was working on on the sidelines, and unlike some players, Pittman is not an actor, not a fabulist. If he’s right to look with one finger I would make sure the thing is still stuck. He’s so tough.

    It’s not the invisible Michael Pittman that’s ailing the Colts, but that’s a symptom. Either he’s injured, which means the season is essentially over, or the Colts have a pair of quarterbacks — the young guy and the old guy — who don’t realize he’s the most important player in their passing game.

    That means the season is essentially over.

    The season is basically over, that’s what I’m saying. The Colts are 4-5, two games behind the 6-3 Houston Texans in the AFC South, but more like three games thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker, which Houston owns after sweeping the Colts this season. No chance of the Colts overtaking the Texans – well, passing them by one game – in the last eight games. Can the Colts sift through the wreckage of the AFC to sneak into the playoffs as the last wild card team? Can they earn the right to go on the road and lose by 20 to someone in the first round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs?

    As nice as that sounds, maybe we should come up with a different solution.

    Maybe the Colts should go back to Anthony Richardson.

    Don’t look at me like that.

    Insider Nate Atkins: Ten thoughts on this loss, starting with Joe Flacco

    Insider Joel A. Erickson: New QB, quarterback, same result for Colts vs. Vikings

    Go back to QB Anthony Richardson

    Yes, we’ve been all over the map with this story. And by we I of course mean myself. But I also mean you, and I mean the Colts, because none of us have a clue what this franchise should do next at quarterback. So if you’re kidding me here for sticking up for Richardson until he pulled out in Houston last week and then asking for Flacco, and now asking for a return to Richardson after the Flacco-led offense put up a season-low 227 yards and zero touchdowns against Minnesota…

    Mock me. Go for it. However, I think your anger is misdirected. You should be more than a little angry at the Colts, who haven’t found a quarterback problem they couldn’t make worse. What, you weren’t happy with Jacoby Brissett’s workaround in 2019? Try a season with Philp Rivers in 2020. Sorry, didn’t enjoy that year of washed-up Carson Wentz in 2021? Try 2022 with an even older, even worse Matt Ryan!

    And don’t get me started on 2023 and Gardner Minshew II, dude.

    Here in 2024, there on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Flacco went 16-for-27 for 179 yards and an interception, and was sacked three times, and it’s not just the numbers, but also the way he collected them. Or rather, I didn’t put them together.

    He targeted Pittman just four times and connected once for 14 yards. He targeted Jonathan Taylor five times and connected three times for 11 yards, with a fourth pass hitting Taylor on the pass. It literally bounced off Taylor’s right hip. He didn’t even put his hands down to catch the ball. Like it matters. Roberto Duran would never have quit against Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980 if his hands were as stony as Taylor’s.

    No mom, I mean, about the Joe Flacco experiment. Yes, after one start as the new QB1.

    I can’t watch anymore as Flacco repeatedly ignores open targets underneath to attack across the field. While attacking down the field is admirable, isn’t that what brought Anthony Richardson onto the bench? At least he’s hitting guys downfield. He fails on the short passes, while Flacco rarely throws them and takes a sack on the final drive while staring straight at number 85, open about ten yards in front of him.

    And so this game went for an offense that was outmatched by the defense, with cornerback Kenny Moore II returning a fumble 36 yards for the Colts’ only touchdown. That was the biggest play in a game full of big plays from Gus Bradley’s defense, who played softly and gave up a lot of yards as usual, but ultimately made enough big plays to give the offense a chance… until the defense just got tired. Minnesota ran 10 times for 55 yards on its final two drives and scored a touchdown on the last for a 21-10 lead with 2:05 to go.

    Defensive tackles Grover Stewart (two sacks, Moore’s forced fumble returned for a TD) and DeForest Buckner (one sack, one tackle for loss, three QB hits) were the Colts’ best players, and safety Nick Cross – 10 tackles and an interception – was close, followed by linebackers EJ Speed ​​(12 tackles) and Zaire Franklin (interception, eight tackles) and Moore (six tackles, one for loss and the TD return).

    The defense deserved better from the attack, and the attack was attempted. This isn’t going to go away attempt. Quenton Nelson was a one-man wrecking crew at left guard, Taylor ran well enough (13 carries, 48 ​​yards), beleaguered rookie receiver Adonai Mitchell made a spectacular, leaping, toe-dragging catch for 22 yards, and slot receiver Josh Downs was a nuisance (six catches, 60 yards).

    But the offense in general, with Flacco as the leader, wasn’t good enough.

    Just like the offense in general, with Richardson leading the charge, wasn’t good enough.

    The Colts are not going to the playoffs. They haven’t been mathematically eliminated, and they won’t be for six weeks, but let’s be realistic about what we’re looking at. No, let’s go a step further and say this: even if the Colts Doing sneak into the playoffs with a 9-8 or 8-9 record – yippee – the only thing that guarantees them is an ugly road loss that will make money for another AFC city, followed by a mediocre draft pick in the first round.

    Everyone, including myself, was wondering if Joe Flacco is the answer. Now we know: he isn’t. And soon he will collect his NFL pension.

    We’re still wondering, me included, about Anthony Richardson’s ceiling. Soon he will be 23. Then 24. Then 25.

    Do you have a better idea for a Colts quarterback?

    Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.

    More: Join the text conversation with sports columnist Gregg Doyel for insights, reader questions and Doyel’s behind-the-scenes look.

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