The Colts offense has hit rock bottom.
Struggling to find consistency under Anthony Richardson, head coach Shane Steichen turned to 39-year old veteran quarterback Joe Flacco in search of answers, a decision which was heavily scrutinized.
Now, after a pitiful performance from Flacco, Steichen is facing more heat. The offense appears to be going in the wrong direction, just one game into the Flacco experiment.
Whatever the plan was, it blew up in Steichen’s face, all on national television.
“Everything that [happens] on that field, I’m in charge of.” he said in his postgame press conference. “I wasn’t good enough for the guys tonight.”
The Colts’ first drive of the game was indicative of how the offense would perform over the next four quarters. After moving the football inside Minnesota’s 26-yard line, Flacco turned to hand the ball off to Jonathan Taylor.
Only, he botched the exchange, causing a fumble, which was recovered by Harrison Smith of the Vikings.
From that point on, Flacco would continue to be the weak link. Hospital passes left and right. Missing open receivers in the short game. Horrendously underthrowing his targets, resulting in incompletions and interceptions.
Not even a Nick Cross interception off Sam Darnold, which was returned to the Minnesota 25-yard line, could set Flacco up for a touchdown drive. The offense would gain 2 yards on the next three plays and settle for a field goal.
Flacco would finish 16-for-27 (59.2%) for 179 yards and an interception.
But Flacco shouldn’t have been in this position to begin with. Steichen elected to try and win football games right now with a seasoned veteran under center, instead of riding out the turbulence which comes with Anthony Richardson at the helm.
“It starts with myself,” he repeated multiple times, a phrase which has become regular in his postgame press conference this season.
Steichen seems to be the only one to still believe in Flacco, who he stated remains the starter despite his disastrous performance.
“He was fine,” he said on Flacco’s performance, adding he never considered turning to Richardson at any point.
For the second straight week, a confused offense wasted a defensive performance worthy of a victory. Gus Bradley’s defense was dominant in the first half, giving Indy a 7-0 halftime lead thanks to a scoop-and-score by Kenny Moore II off the back of a Grover Stewart strip sack.
Eventually, though, they would run out of gas. After all, Flacco and the offense gave them little time to recuperate. Indianapolis lost the time of possession battle 23:06 to 36:54. This season, the Colts have out-possessed their opponent just once.
Under Flacco, the offense went backwards. Before Sunday, the Colts offense averaged 326 yards of offense per game. On Sunday, they accrued just 226, the second-lowest under Steichen.
“I gotta keep looking at what we’re doing offensively,” Steichen said, reiterating that Indy has half a season to turn things around.
Steichen and Flacco will have a chance to get back on track next week when the Buffalo Bills come to Lucas Oil Stadium, riding a four-game win streak. The schedule isn’t getting any easier for the Colts, who are running out of time to figure out their offensive identity.
HN's NFL Power Rankings: Week 16
