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What’s more fun than second-guessing NFL coaches? Nothing, that’s what. So let’s do it every week, right here. Today: Future or past, which way do you turn?
The scenario: The Colts stink on ice. Shane Steichen is facing every head coach’s most dreaded personnel problem: Which do you play, a young, expensive, high-draft quarterback who’s not anywhere near ready or an aging quarterback who’s lost 20 miles an hour off his fastball? (See also: Carolina.)
Your candidates for the Colts starting QB job:
• Anthony Richardson, who may have cashed his career when he admitted to pulling himself out of a game because he was tired, but he’s still a phenomenally talented player with a surgeon’s touch on deep throws.
• Joe Flacco, who has been in the league so long that he competed in the Super Bowl alongside Ray Lewis and against Colin Kaepernick … and that was in Flacco’s fifth season.
Yeah. Good luck there, Shane.
The case for Richardson: The No. 4 overall draft pick from 2023 is still just 22 years old, which is awfully early to be giving up on a guy. Still, what we’ve seen from Richardson hasn’t been encouraging in the aggregate. Through six games this season, Richardson has a completion percentage of 44.4 percent, and four touchdowns against seven interceptions. That’s nasty.
Then again, he also has the ability to do this:
That’s the kind of arm talent that makes coaches dream big dreams.
Despite all the evidence that teams ought to hold off on starting unproven rookie quarterbacks (See Carolina, again; also see Mahomes, Patrick), the massive price tag and the win-now demands often force quarterbacks into the lineup before they’re anywhere near ready. And when a rookie quarterback breaks out (See Daniels, Jayden), every single other owner thinks, Hey, I want one of those! Could Richardson be that guy for Indianapolis?
The case for Flacco: For the past six years, Flacco has been a sort of Human Duct Tape, stepping in to (briefly) solve problems for four different teams after Lamar Jackson took his old job: Denver, the Jets, Cleveland and now Indianapolis. Each time, it’s a fixer-upper situation, and much like fixer-uppers, each time new problems have surfaced before the old ones could be corrected.
Flacco has served as a mentor-slash-stopgap solution for Richardson all season, and he’s now the full-time starter going forward. There’s something to be said for being a known quantity … right?
The result: Against Buffalo on Sunday, Steichen went with Flacco for the second straight game, and early results were … not great. Take, for example, the Colts’ very first freaking play from scrimmage:
Yeah, that’s a pick-six. On the next possession, Flacco was much better — it took him seven plays to throw an interception. He finished the afternoon 26 of 35 with two touchdowns, three interceptions and a lost fumble. That’s on the heels of a Sunday night loss to Minnesota where Flacco went 16 of 27 for 179 yards with an interception and another fumble. Put another way: In just the last two weeks, Flacco has committed six turnovers and has guided the offense to 26 points total.
With Flacco starting, Indianapolis is now 1-3 and 4-6 overall. QB Wins aren’t a thing … but in this case, they might be.
Going forward: Even after Sunday’s disastrous performance, Steichen backed Flacco, saying, “Until I say otherwise, Joe’s our guy right now.”
The reason: Indianapolis, weird as it sounds, still has a good shot of making the playoffs. The Colts are eighth in the AFC, second in the AFC South. In the five seasons since Andrew Luck abruptly retired, the Colts have made the playoffs exactly once, with no wins, and have started a remember-that-guy of quarterbacks: Gardner Minshew, Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz, Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett. They’re hoping that Flacco gives them a chance to get back to the postseason; Richardson is a matter for later.
So. Are the Colts making the right decision by sticking with Joe Flacco? Your call.