Despite his poor performance, Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen has stuck with Joe Flacco, making him appear incompetent.
As the Indianapolis Colts went onto the field against the Buffalo Bills, the motorcycle that led the squad onto the field stalled many times as it attempted to restart. It became a bad portent for what was to come for the Colts offense.
On Sunday afternoon, Indianapolis lost its third straight game, 30-20 against the Bills, dropping the franchise to 4-6. The loss was not the fault of Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for 114 yards and added explosiveness to the attack. It wasn’t the receivers’ fault; Josh Downs, AD Mitchell, and Alec Pierce were open and made plays when given the chance. The defense did its part as well, forcing two turnovers and keeping the Bills under their season average in scoring.
No, this loss is the responsibility of the two Colts players who have been in the news for the previous two weeks: Joe Flacco and Shane Steichen. Flacco performed horribly against the Bills, committing four turnovers and continually harming the Colts throughout the game. He finished the day 26-of-35 (74%), with 272 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions, and a fumble lost in defeat.
Flacco delivered an awful performance a week after failing to impress against the Minnesota Vikings. Following Steichen’s “win now” decision to bench Anthony Richardson in favor of Flacco, the Colts have never been further from victory this season. So, does Steichen have any plans to return to Richardson?
“Until I say otherwise, Joe is our guy right now,” Steichen declared confidently following the game.
It looks that a quarterback switch will not be done, making the Colts’ head coach and the entire organization even more stupid.
To put Flacco’s poor performance in perspective, the veteran had -13.0 expected points added (EPA) against the Bills, the lowest by a Colts quarterback in a game this season. Furthermore, after taking over as starter, Flacco has produced the second-lowest EPA in the NFL, -22.1. Indy has had a debacle at its most critical position on the field over the last two weeks.
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But Steichen isn’t interested in discussing Flacco’s performance on the field. The true difference is in what Flacco can offer that cannot be measured.
“Just his veteran leadership that he brings to our football team,” replied Steichen. “I’m a veteran person. Obviously, we’ve had two games that he’d like to have back, but we’ll keep fighting and see where it goes.”
Steichen can only point to two reasons why the Colts are sticking with Flacco at this point: his leadership, which appears to be missing given his indifferent demeanor on the sidelines, and the fact that he has been in the league for 17 years. When all of the parts around the quarterback are doing their duties and the losses keep piling up, it’s not a great pitch.
The supporters appear to be at their wit’s end, booing the Colts offense off the field after each Flacco turnover. Boos rang out as Flacco continued to play for the Colts on Sunday.
A fans that was promised a long-term solution at quarterback and told to be patient in that quarterback’s development by this administration now feels duped by the same regime that made a franchise-altering decision only for it to backfire in the worst way.
The Colts heard the boos on Sunday and know that until things improve, they will only grow louder.
“We’ve got to give them something to cheer about,” Steichen said. “Obviously, we aren’t moving the ball. We have to be better. “We have to go back and freaking clean it up.”
“This is a humbling game,” Flacco said. “The league is tough. You’ll have to deal with situations like that from time to time. It is unfortunate. You don’t want to place yourself in that scenario, yet we can only see yourself. I can only go inward to figure out why this is happening. “It is what it is.”
Players in the locker room are likewise fed up with the Colts’ plight. Cornerback Kenny Moore II, a captain and a well-respected figure in the locker room, came up unexpectedly about the team’s recent troubles. If Moore is prepared to speak publicly about the team’s work and direction, it is likely that others in the locker room feel the same way.
“I don’t think everybody is working as hard as possible,” Moore admitted. “I’m not the sort to sugarcoat things. To be honest, I don’t see the urgency. I don’t believe the details are there. I don’t believe the effort is there. I don’t see everything as it should be, from meetings to practices to games, and it shows.
“We need to look ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves how badly we want it… Going out and repeating the same mistakes drives me mad as a player. Individually, it is what drives me mad. We’re in November, and I don’t see us making the jump from September to November; I see the same thing. Honestly, year after year, it’s the same thing.”
To be fair to Flacco, he should not bear all of the blame. Yes, he is responsible for his bad performance. However, Steichen and the Colts’ decision-makers shoved Flacco into this predicament, expecting him to be the savior and lead the team to the playoffs. While Flacco may still believe he can play at a high level, he must begin to prove it before the majority of fans would trust him again.
“You eventually have to turn it and go out there and play well,” according to Flacco. “The only way you can achieve that is to keep your head up and continue to tackle the week as you have. Don’t change, and don’t blink. Throughout the week, it may not be enough, but as I previously stated, you must go out there and perform well to demonstrate that we are capable of winning football games.
Until Flacco can play at a high level and win football games for the Colts, the cries for Richardson to be named starting again will become stronger. While Richardson continues to improve his game both on and off the field, Steichen has declared that he has no plans to re-sign the 22-year-old. If Sunday’s catastrophe by Flacco does not cause Steichen to reassess his pick at quarterback, what will?
“I think we look at everything every week,” Steichen stated. “I’ll go back and look at the tape, but right now, Joe is our guy.”
The reality is that Steichen and the Colts made a huge mistake by benching Richardson for Flacco in a ‘win now’ approach that has resulted in loss, disorder, and what appears to be a dissatisfied locker room. Until Steichen recognizes this reality and returns to Richardson, the organization faces further turmoil and the loss of the locker room.
And once the locker room is lost, it is difficult to reclaim it.
