INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen heard the boos Sunday.
He never considered making the move the home crowd wanted — benching 39-year-old Joe Flacco and going back to second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Two weeks after Steichen announced Flacco's promotion to starter because the coach believed the longtime veteran gave Indy the best chance of winning, the questions about changing course again and reverting to Richardson began in earnest.
“Until I say otherwise, Joe is our guy right now,” Steichen said when asked if he still believes Flacco is the best option for Indy (4-6). “I understand. I understand. Like I said, I’m going to go back and look at everything, but right now, that’s where we’re at.”
Flacco's final line in the Colts' 30-20 loss to Buffalo was 26 of 35 for 272 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Those picks, along with four sacks and a lost fumble, sealed the Colts' fate.
Flacco has six turnovers including in two starts since replacing Richardson, he's 1-3 as Indy's starter this season, and he has produced Indy's two lowest single-game outputs in total yards. Throwing an interception that was returned for a TD on his first pass Sunday certainly didn't help his cause, and he acknowledged the throw was a bad decision.
Naturally, Indy's fans didn't wait until a third straight loss was official to let Steichen and the Colts' brain trust — or Flacco — know what they thought despite Richardson's league-low 44% completion percentage.
They believe life with Flacco behind center has been even worse.
“This league is tough, things like that happen,” Flacco said of the boos. “You don't want to put yourself in that situation. But you know we can only look at ourselves and I can only look at myself in terms of what's happening.”
Finding an explanation — or a solution — won't be easy.
While Richardson provided both big plays and a dual running threat out of the backfield when paired with All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor, his erratic throws often short-circuited drives. He's also struggled to stay healthy, making just 10 starts since being selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft.
And he drew heavy criticism for taking himself out briefly in the third quarter of a loss at Houston because he needed a breather. Richardson later acknowledged that was a mistake.
Flacco, meanwhile, has struggled behind an offensive line that started two rookies each of the last two games and finished Sunday with a third rookie on the field.
And while his completion percentage is better, Flacco also has missed throws and been the victim of drops while Indy's top receiver, Michael Pittman Jr., tries to recover from a back injury that threatened to sideline him for multiple weeks. Pittman was inactive for the first time Sunday.
The resulting slide seemed predictable.
Three weeks ago, Indy went to Houston with a chance to tie the Texans for the AFC South lead. Now, with six games remaining, the Colts sit one game behind Denver for the conference's seventh and final playoff spot as they contemplate options.
They could go back to Richardson and live with the consequences of letting a young quarterback growing into a starting job. Or they could stay with Flacco, who generated only one scoring drive last week at Minnesota and only delivered one meaningful touchdown Sunday, a 2-yard TD pass to Tyler Goodson in the first half.
At the moment, Steichen sounds convinced Flacco is his guy, and it's not clear when that might change.
“Obviously, we’ve had two games that he’d like to have back, but we’ll keep battling through it, see where it goes,” Steichen said. “We’ve got to give them (the fans) something to cheer about. We're moving the ball. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to go back, and freaking get it cleaned up.”
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