Joe Flacco keeps the job as QB1 of the Colts for “right now” despite the Indianapolis offense scoring six points at Minnesota on Sunday night.
Flacco started in the primetime loss to the Vikings after replacing Anthony Richardson, a move the Colts made official five days before the trip to Minneapolis. Flacco completed 16 of 27 passes for 179 yards with one interception in the 21-13 loss that dropped the Colts to 4-5 this season.
Head coach Shane Steichen appraised the performance of Flacco as “fine” late Sunday night after declaring last week that the 39-year-old gave the team the best chance to win going forward.
“Credit to Minnesota. They do a lot of good things. But again, I’m the head coach. Everything that’s on that field, my name’s on it,” Steichen said.
The Colts did not run a play in the red zone in the game and running back Jonathan Taylor matched his season low with 48 rushing yards. He chalked up the loss to losing more third downs than they won offensively. Indianapolis was 3 of 11 on third downs.
“You definitely don’t want to be 4-5, but we got the pieces — if you look at the roster, we have the pieces,” Taylor said. “But for us, offensively, we got to stay on the field. We gotta find ways to stay on the field.”
Up next for Indianapolis is a home date with the Buffalo Bills (7-2) before a return to “Sunday Night Football” against the Jets. If Flacco remains in the lineup Week 12, it sets up a matchup of the almost-40 quarterback (his birthday is Jan. 16) and 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers at New York (3-6). Flacco played for the Jets from 2020-22.