While over the break, the Colts won against the Tennessee Titans away in week 6 (20-17), and then in week 7, the Colts got their fourth win of the season at home against the Dolphins (16-10). Weeks 8 (Texans) and 9 (Vikings) both resulted in close away losses – Texans: 23-20, Vikings: 21-13.
In the last two games, Anthony Richardson had returned from his oblique injury he suffered in the game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 4. Versus the Dolphins, he recorded 129 yards off 10 completions with 0 interceptions and 0 touchdowns. It was a lackluster performance, but it was a good comeback game for being injured.
In the latest performance against the Texans, Anthony Richardson played another disappointing game going 10/32, throwing 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. With these performances, the Colts made the decision to bench Anthony Richardson for this past week’s game against the Vikings.
In these four last games, the defense has held its opponents under 21 points, and the Colts passing defense is now ranked 24th in the league. Other than that significant improvement our defense overall remains 28th in the league.
The change at quarterback also showed that Anthony Richardson wasn’t the issue on offense. Joe Flacco was 16 of 27 and had an interception. The offensive play calling is lackluster in general, our players can’t seem to catch and hold on to the ball nor are we running the ball enough.
Jonathan Taylor only had 13 carries for 48 yards, last game against the Texans he carried 20 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. We continue to underuse one of our best pieces on the board
Over the course of weeks since week 6 injuries have had an improvement with Richardson and Taylor both being upgraded to active. Michael Pittman also was upgraded to active on week 8 after an injury to his back, though playtime was limited. Deforest Buckner was activated for this week’s game against the Vikings
The next game on the schedule for week 10 is against the 7-2 Buffalo Bills at home in Lucas Oil Stadium.
This is the third week in a row we’ve faced teams over .500, it will be a challenge with the Bills being hot, but the stakes are high for the Colts. Two to three more losses and we could be facing elimination from the playoffs. The Colts plan to start Joe Flacco as quarterback and keep Richardson benched. The Colts play at 1:00 p.m on CBS and NFL+.
