Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen has decided to go back to Anthony Richardson as the team's starting quarterback for the rest of the season a day after saying that Joe Flacco would be the starter until he said “otherwise.”
Steichen said on Monday that Flacco would start against the New York Jets and then said yesterday that “Joe's our guy right now,” but after an additional day to stew on a pair of consecutive losses and poor showings from Flacco, the second-year coach is putting Richardson back in. Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, was benched for Flacco after a game against the Houston Texans in which he “tapped out.”
After Richardson controversially asked to be taken out of the Colts' 23-20 loss to Houston, Steichen said he solely made the decision to replace Richardson with Flacco with winning in mind.
“Joe will be our quarterback going forward,” Steichen said at the time. “Joe gives us the best chance to win right now. I'm not giving up on Anthony Richardson.”
Unfortunately, the move backfired on Steichen, whose team dropped an ugly game to the Minnesota Vikings on ‘Sunday Night Football' last week before losing to the Buffalo Bills this past weekend. In those games, Flacco threw 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, including 3 against Buffalo.
Despite having lost three in a row, the Colts (4-6) are still in the mix for a playoff spot. According to the NFL's Playoff Picture tool, Indianapolis currently has a 24% chance to make the postseason. With a win this weekend, the odds increase to 38%, but with a loss, they drop to 14%.
The Colts surely hope that Richardson's play, after having a few weeks to sit and watch, will improve down the stretch. The second-year quarterback has completed just 44.4% of his passes this season, in addition to throwing 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
Indianapolis visits New York to play the Jets this weekend.
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