Flacco to start on SNF?

purplefaithful wrote:
It's all conjecture for now, but Indy coach was non-committal on sticking with Richardson yesterday...

Yep...I'm gonna say this is not good news. Was just thinking that while Goff and Stafford are exactly the kind of QB who can declaw a BFlo D, Richardson is the kind of QB who struggles against it. Flacco's experience will take some of the bite out of Flo's D I think. This game could be a little tougher than it looked a few weeks ago. 

Per @Colts HC Shane Steichen, the team is "evaluating everything" as it relates to QB QB Anthony Richardson and whether or not he will start Sunday night against the @Vikings.

Steichen remained non-committal on Richardson and starting veteran QB Joe Flacco seems to be a… pic.twitter.com/wWq8y0I705

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) October 28, 2024

Yes, we want Richardson to play and not get hurt.

MaroonBells wrote:

Yep...I'm gonna say this is not good news. Was just thinking that while Goff and Stafford are exactly the kind of QB who can declaw a BFlo D, Richardson is the kind of QB who struggles against it. Flacco's experience will take some of the bite out of Flo's D I think. This game could be a little tougher than it looked a few weeks ago. 

Per @Colts HC Shane Steichen, the team is "evaluating everything" as it relates to QB QB Anthony Richardson and whether or not he will start Sunday night against the @Vikings.

Steichen remained non-committal on Richardson and starting veteran QB Joe Flacco seems to be a… pic.twitter.com/wWq8y0I705

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) October 28, 2024

I dont feel confident in any game anymore tbh. I think Flo's D has been exposed and I dont have the same confidence in Sam either. Getting TJH back should be a bonus for the offense (as will a mini by). 

Agreed, Flacco would be more of a challenge than Richardson. If they do start the kid, he will most likely have a very short leash.

purplefaithful wrote:

I dont feel confident in any game anymore tbh. I think Flo's D has been exposed and I dont have the same confidence in Sam either. Getting TJH back should be a bonus for the offense (as will a mini by). 

Agreed, Flacco would be more of a challenge than Richardson. If they do start the kid, he will most likely have a very short leash.

I'm not really worried about Darnold. He's had one bad game in seven. But I am a little worried about the defense. We did just play two of the best teams in the NFL, and with a nod to Bud, we played them at exactly the wrong time. But Flo's defense was sort of cracked late last year. It coincided with a lot of injuries, but that is now an overriding concern of mine when it comes to Flores: once it's figured out, others can follow. 

The difference between a Richardson-led Colts team and a Flacco-led Colts team is enormous. Hey coach, give the kid a chance. You replace him now, think about what you're telling him, the fans, the media....do you really wanna go down that road?

regarding Flo's D:

Yah it is a bit of deja vu for sure. I dont like it either.

Now there is figuring out the D and having the horses on the field to do something about it.

Stafford/Goff both are good at getting rid of the ball quick + Goff has one of the best OL's in football. The Rams did not, so that was a bit of a head-scratcher - probably Stafford made em look better then they really are.

But there is the formula; that and attack the middle of the field/mid range.

I think the evolution of this D has to be getting home without having to exotic blitz. Keep that for special occasions and weddings. That wont happen this year and w/out personnel improvement on the IDL.

Adding a Simmons or Lawrence or Clark would have made a HUGE difference this season.

I'm hoping Turner contributes more back 1/2 and next year as well. Tough line-up for a rook to break in on at Edge.

StickierBuns wrote:
Hey, if we are gripping over Joe Flacco starting, then that's a sad state of affairs for our thoughts on the current Flores D.

That's true but time is running out. We need to get to the Superbowl and that means we need to get to the playoffs first.

We’ll see how Flores’s defense fares going forward. I’m certainly not qualified to talk on the matter, but it seems like both last year and this year, offenses struggled with it initially and then figured out the holes in our offense and just spammed them repeatedly and we didn’t really adjust. Last year, I’m not sure we had enough talent to really adjust properly. This year, we’ve faced two of the best offensive minds with quality talent back to back on a short week. I think it could be argued that Flores’s defense would have looked a lot better last game if the game wasn’t rigged and they didn’t have all those phantom penalties that kept drives going for LA. That said, I’ll want to see us adapt and take advantage of some of these weaker teams we have coming up on our schedule. If teams keep spamming the same route concepts over and over, it’s not a great look.

I would expect Flacco to fair much better than Richardson though, regardless of how much we adapt on our defense.

StickierBuns wrote:
Hey, if we are gripping over Joe Flacco starting, then that's a sad state of affairs for our thoughts on the current Flores D.

Vikings are notorious for getting beaten by veteran backups. And Flacco in for Richardson is a perfect example of that. Not saying we won't win or the Flores defense has its pants down, just that the Flores defense is about causing confusion, which is a bigger problem for younger QBs. Daniel Jones, Brock Purdy, CJ Stroud struggled and Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford did not.

Flacco will carve us like a Thanksgiving turkey, just like Goff and Stafford did. I think the Colts know this, but they might be tempted to see if Richardson can have some success against us too. Hopefully.

I'm expecting them to start Flacco and for the game to be a shootout, similar to the Detroit one. We obviously need a win badly. If Richardson starts I think Vikes D causes him fits.

Our O cant be ignored, They seem to be good out of the gate, but then wither as the game progresses. we have scored 1 4th quarter TD this year, now yes you can say they were leading and trying to control the clock, but the splits show they win the first quarter and then decline in the 2nd, show a little more in the 3rd Q, but then are shit when they could be taking advantage of the situation. I mean if everything says run the ball and kill the clock... then the D will be loaded and waiting for that, why play into the strength of the D... you know what else runs the clock and forces teams to burn timeouts... first downs!

We just dont seem to play ( or call plays) with the same confidence and intensity after the game plan gets revealed. I know its easy to say the players arent executing, but how often could better plays, formations, packages be called to improve the odds of success?

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/2024_splits.htm

Flacco is starting Sunday

Kinda figure it's Flacco...No one is going to trot out a guy who can't nut up in a game.

StickierBuns wrote:
Teams preach patience with young QBs but they are so full of shit. The pressure to win is too great. He's played in 10 games in his NFL career. 10. And is now getting a healthy yank for Flacco.

I hear yah, and Eberflus has some dirty hands too with how they are managing Caleb. 

I think part of this is how Richardson tapped-out the last game. Really bad optics.

Hard to believe they’re moving off their 44% passer against B-Flo, guess their team leadership is tapping out now!  :cool: :angel:

JimmyinSD wrote:

We just dont seem to play ( or call plays) with the same confidence and intensity after the game plan gets revealed. I know its easy to say the players arent executing, but how often could better plays, formations, packages be called to improve the odds of success?

This is not a mystery. The staff puts together the early game script and it works. After that it's KOC improvising and that doesn't work. And once he puts Darnold into a pressure situation the real Sam starts to show up, missing targets, making mistakes, etc. He needs to be a CEO HC and hand play calling to his OC.

But I've said that since he was hired and nothing's changed. It's an ego thing. His buddies McVay and Shanahan are known as play callers. The networks emphasize this skill like it's oh so important with 100 sideline shots a game of guys with their faces buried in little plastic cards. How could he save face if he had to admit he sucks at it? But the sooner he does the better off we'll be.

The fact that fans are wringing their hands over Joe Flacco shows how unserious this team’s championship aspirations are this year. The unexpected fast start seems to have given some fans an inflated perception of the team.

They’re essentially surrounding the young core with 22 rent-a-players this season fully well knowing they have 60+ million in cap space next year to set this team on the right path with ACTUAL talented players.

Of course they have to try to win, but any and all wins they get from here on out are strictly gravy

comet52 wrote:
This is not a mystery.  The staff puts together the early game script and it works.  After that it's KOC improvising and that doesn't work. And once he puts Darnold into a pressure situation the real Sam starts to show up, missing targets, making mistakes, etc.  He needs to be a CEO HC and hand play calling to his OC.

But I've said that since he was hired and nothing's changed.  It's an ego thing.  His buddies McVay and Shanahan are known as play callers.  The networks emphasize this skill like it's oh so important with 100 sideline shots a game of guys with their faces buried in little plastic cards.  How could he save face if he had to admit he sucks at it?  But the sooner he does the better off we'll be.

This has less to do with KOC’s play calling off script and more Darnold’s ability to execute off script. He locks onto his #1 option too often and seems to have little confidence when going through his progressions. 

He’s good when he’s told what to do and who to throw to. In fact I don’t think I recall seeing one audible called this season so far.

I Don’t think our problems on D all have to do with Bflo’s schemes. We are also missing Cashman who has been playing great football all season. His absence is a big reason offenses have been able to exploit the middle of the field. We need the pride of Eden Prairie back in the lineup too.

Not surprised at all they're going with Flacco. Richardson is a hot mess, he needs to sit and learn. Another young qb thrown to the wolves way to soon.

CFIAvike wrote:
The fact that fans are wringing their hands over Joe Flacco shows how unserious this team’s championship aspirations are this year. The unexpected fast start seems to have given some fans an inflated perception of the team.

They’re essentially surrounding the young core with 22 rent-a-players this season fully well knowing they have 60+ million in cap space next year to set this team on the right path with ACTUAL talented players.

Of course they have to try to win, but any and all wins they get from here on out are strictly gravy

This has less to do with KOC’s play calling off script and more Darnold’s ability to execute off script. He locks onto his #1 option too often and seems to have little confidence when going through his progressions. 

He’s good when he’s told what to do and who to throw to. In fact I don’t think I recall seeing one audible called this season so far.

I've seen him audible several times. And one of the things that has impressed me most about Darnold is his ability and willingness to go through progressions. I actually think he's been better at that than even Cousins was. Both of Oliver's TDs were 4th reads. The pass to Jefferson that set up Oliver's TD was at least a 3rd read. 

And what do fans wringing their hands over Joe Flacco have to do with the team's championship aspirations? Did we suddenly get control of the franchise? If so I got dibs on the draft room.

One day after news broke that Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft, would be benched in favor of 39-year-old Joe Flacco, Steichen made his first public comments and acknowledged he made the decision for one reason, committing to Flacco for the foreseeable future.

''It's my obligation to 53 guys in this organization to win football games,'' he said. ''Right now, Joe Flacco gives us the best chance.''

The 22-year-old Richardson has struggled with his performance and his health.

His completion rate, 44.4%, is the worst in the NFL this season and he's thrown four touchdown passes and seven interceptions. His nine total turnovers are tied for third most in the NFL despite sitting out two games with an injured right hip.

Missing games is not a new phenomenon for Richardson, either. He's sat out 15 of 25 career games and finished just five of his 10 career starts because of an assortment of injuries, including season-ending surgery on his throwing shoulder last October.

Then came Sunday.

Houston (6-2) picked off one of Richardson's poor throws deep in Colts territory in the final minute of the first half and quickly converted it into a touchdown. The Texans won 23-20 to take a two-game lead in the AFC South and sweep the season series from Indy (4-4).

Worse yet, Richardson briefly left the game in the second half after tapping his helmet to signal he was ''tired.''

Though he returned on Indy's next series, he drew heavy criticism and met with both Steichen and teammates between Sunday and Monday.

''We had a conversation about it and I think he knows it's not the standard he needs to play up to and the rest of the team holds him to,'' Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly said.
''I'll kind of leave the conversation we had at that, but I'm sure he's going to take criticism for that, rightfully so, right? I mean, that's a tough, tough look, but he's out there giving it all for his team, right?''

Richardson and Flacco were both scheduled to speak with reporters later Wednesday.

So Indy is benching one of the youngest, least experienced quarterbacks in favor of one of the league's oldest.

The 39-year-old Flacco, last year's AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the Super Bowl 47 MVP, already has made two starts and is 2-1 in the three games he's played with the Colts.

Flacco has completed 71 of 108 throws (65.7%) with 716 yards, seven TDs and one interception and he's quick decision-making has helped the Colts keep drives moving more consistently.

And with Indy in the playoff race, Flacco certainly appears capable of making a postseason run — just as he did with the Cleveland Browns last season.

''I just feel that's where our team is at, I feel Joe gives us the best chance to win right now," Steichen said. ''I'm responsible for the offense, the defense and the special teams and we're trying to win games.''

Source: Startribune