Joe Flacco will start on Sunday
Adam Schefter just broke the news that Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback Anthony Richardson will miss their week 17 game against the New York Giants:
Colts downgraded QB Anthony Richardson to out for Sunday’s game versus the Giants.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 28, 2024
Joe Flacco will start with the Colts playoff chances hanging on by the slimmest of threads. In the days leading up to this decision ESPN reporter Stephen Holder has made it abundantly clear the decision to hold Richardson out of practice and presumably the decision to hold him out of tomorrow’s game are decisions that have been made by the team
So… I’ve gotten about 100 replies asking me whether Anthony Richardson is “soft” because he missed practice this week with what Shane Steichen described as severe “soreness.”
Once again: This is NOT Richardson’s decision. Period. (More)
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) December 28, 2024
Holder went on to say that the decision was made “in corner offices” and that he wouldn’t say “Steichen” when laying blame for the decision, implying that general manager Chris Ballard may have made the call on his status for week 17.
The Colts playoff chances have never been good. 22 year old starting quarterbacks almost never lead their team to the post-season but nonetheless Colts fans have had their hearts set on a first round playoff loss the playoffs all year long and now they will have to try to win their next game without their young starter.
Richardson hasn’t had the second season meteoric rise every Colts fan hoped for leading up to the 2024 season. For much of the first half of the season he was too focused on forcing deep throws and ignoring anything less than 10 yards down the field. Richardson was benched for Flacco who played terribly and once Richardson was renamed starter, he played the best game of his career. Richardson has been up and down since returning to the starting lineup but progression is never linear and last week saw him complete 64% of his passes, which doesn’t feel like it should be a notable stat, but given Richardson’s penchant for completing less than 50% of his attempts, it is.
The questions we had about Anthony Richardson coming into the season were numerous, but questions about his health and accuracy were the loudest among them. This year he has been better in both aspects but neither has been good enough. Hopefully next season the kid will take open checkdowns and learn to reset his feet under pressure, because if he can just learn to do those two things week 17 next year will most likely be much more exciting for Colts fans.
For now, the season rests in the hands of several other (bad) NFL teams and Joe Flacco.