It appears we’ll see struggling veteran Joe Flacco start for at least one more week for Indianapolis at quarterback.
Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen issued struggling veteran starter Joe Flacco a vote of confidence, despite consecutive games of poor results since taking over the first-team offense reins behind center (via The Athletic’s James Boyd):
#Colts HC Shane Steichen says QB Joe Flacco will remain QB1 until he says otherwise.
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) November 10, 2024
Since taking over for demoted 2nd-year starter Anthony Richardson, the offensive results for Flacco have been just as bad and really even much worse, given the increased turnovers—as Flacco has had six total turnovers over the past two weeks for Indianapolis.
Flacco has completed 42 of 62 pass attempts (67.7%) for 451 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and 2 fumbles lost in consecutive starts against the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills defenses combined.
Even with Flacco’s struggles again on Sunday, Steichen indicated that he did not consider reinserting Richardson into the starting lineup.
While it appears that the Colts are still trying to teach Richardson ‘a learning lesson,’ there’s not a whole lot to be gained by watching Flacco’s on-the-field results right now.
It’s a fair question to of whether the Colts are currently doing the best thing as far as advancing the franchise forward. Indianapolis is getting even worse results from the quarterback position, and it’s from their nearly 40-year-old starting quarterback—not the 22-year-old quarterback they should ideally be developing—who admittedly needs the reps.
The Colts are taking their lumps right now at quarterback, but they don’t really have anything to show for it—and really aren’t progressing towards anything potentially meaningful. It’s been another bizarre season in Indianapolis.
