The Indianapolis Colts currently sit at 4-4 on the season despite the obvious struggles of second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. And after their latest loss in Week 8, Colts head coach Shane Steichen hinted that there very well could be a change at the position heading into their Week 9 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Richardson had perhaps the worst game of his young career to date on Sunday against the Houston Texans, completing just 31.3 percent of his passes en route to a 23-20 defeat.
The loss is a hard one for the Colts to stomach. With a win, they would have held a share of the AFC South lead with the Texans. But instead, they now lose the tiebreaker to Houston and fall to two games back of the division lead.
While the loss certainly hurts, Richardson’s play is perhaps even more concerning for the future of the team long-term. Coming into the year, most Colts fans were sold that Richardson was the team’s quarterback of the future. And a large portion of the fanbase seems to no longer feel that way.
Only time will tell whether Colts head coach Shane Steichen feels that way either. But we do know that Steichen isn’t sure Richardson will even start against the Vikings next week.
In a press conference on Monday, Steichen didn’t immediately jump to Richardson starting the game, saying that the team is “evaluating” their quarterback situation, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Naturally, Colts fans chimed in on the situation on social media.
“Don’t be silly Shane, keep AR in to develop,” one Colts fan wrote. “Why draft him if you are just going to bench him already?”
“Does AR suck right now? Yes, but he should still start if we wanna have a future with him,” wrote another.
“People saying Flacco is the answer… completely missing this point. They’re not a playoff team with Flacco. Richardson is the future presumably and you have to see what you have,” wrote another Colts fan.
This decision seemingly depends on how the Colts organization currently sees itself. If they believe they have a chance to really contend this season, it seems like veteran quarterback Joe Flacco gives them the best chance to do so.
However, sitting someone like Richardson could certainly ruin his confidence and change the trajectory of his career in the process. So it will be interesting to see where Steichen ends up after his “evaluation” process is done.
