Dopey Report Card -- Colts vs. Vikings

We ask the question again: If this is what you're going to get from Joe Flacco, what's the point of sitting Anthony Richardson? But Shane Steichen said Monday Flacco will start against the Bills. Ugh.

RUN OFFENSE

Shane Steichen did the right thing, something he didn’t do often enough when Anthony Richardson was playing: He tried to establish a running game. The problem there is, the Vikings are among the best run-stuffing teams in the league, ranking third in rushing yards per game and yards per carry. The Colts also had a new starting left tackle, Matt Goncalves, who was replacing the injured Bernhard Raimann. The Colts went nowhere fast Sunday night, finishing with a season-low 68 yards, rushing 19 times, a 3.6 yard-per-carry average. Not nearly good enough, especially from a highly paid offensive line that’s supposed to be stout in games like this. When you’re one dimensional against the blitz-happy Vikings, you’re begging for trouble.

Grade: D

RUN DEFENSE

“The Triangle of Terror.” That’s what Cris Collinsworth called the triad of DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart and Zaire Franklin. Catchy, don’t you think? Anyway, the Colts only allowed 21 points but it’s not like the Vikings struggled to move the football. They rolled up 29 first downs, 415 total yards of offense and converted on six of 12 third downs. Minnesota had 71 plays to the Colts 49, no surprise given the Colts are last in the league in time of possession. Sunday night, the Vikes had it 36:54 to 23:06. By the fourth quarter, the defense was completely gassed. Ultimately, Minnesota rushed 32 times for 133 yards, a 4.2-yard average. Not great, not bad. .

Grade: C

PASS OFFENSE

Oh, boy. Here we go again. The move to Joe Flacco backfired spectacularly. Yeah, he faced a lot of pass-rush pressure from a team that plays some of the most exotic defenses in the league, but Flacco was generally terrible. On at least two occasions, he eschewed quick check-downs to Taylor and Trey Sermon, opting to throw deeper and into coverage, with no success. He threw an awful interception right into the waiting hands of Minnesota’s Byron Murphy.  Josh Downs showed up, but Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman, Jr. were both quiet. (When do the Colts start contemplating the IR for Pittman?) As usual, there wasn’t much production from the tight ends. (If the Colts had won this game, I was going to make noise about dealing for Browns tight end David Njoku, but that seems like a massive waste for a team that isn’t going anywhere any time soon.) Another random but notable stat: The Colts were 3 of 11 on third-down conversions. The Flacco Magic has reached its expiration date. Fewest yards, fewest first downs, no drives into the red zone…it was a mess.

Grade: D-

PASS DEFENSE

Sam Darnold produced some good numbers (28-of-34 for 290 yards and three touchdowns) but he also threw two interceptions, fumbled and faced a good amount of pressure from the Colts pass rushers. Indy finished with eight tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits and four sacks, two of them by Stewart, who was just out there man-handling people. Buckner was terrific, too, and I’ll bring this up again: If you’re Buckner, a true pro and a hellacious football player, don’t you ask for a trade before Tuesday’s deadline? And if you’re the Colts, do you pull the trigger? It all depends on whether the Colts truly feel they’re still a playoff contender – they’re not – or whether they’re ready to start rebuilding toward next year. For what it’s worth, Kenny Moore was all over the field Sunday night, played a tremendous game that included a scoop-and-score after Stewart throttled Darnold. (It very well could have been a penalty for forcible contact to the head and neck area, but the flag was picked up for reasons that elude me.) Minnesota’s elite wide receiver, Justin Jefferson, is a flat-out stud. But you already knew that.

Grade: C+

SPECIAL TEAMS

All around the league, kickers are making 50-plus yard field goals like they’re extra points. Sunday, Buffalo won a game over Miami with a 61-yard walkoff kick. But Matt Gay, the highly paid free agent kicker, can’t make one from that distance. He pulled a 53-yarder and then barely made another kick, sneaking it inside the left upright. Of all the things that could have gone wrong for the Colts this year, you didn’t think kicking would be one of those issues. But…here we are.

Grade: D

COACHING

Every time the Colts lose, Steichen talks about how it falls on him and he needs to be better and blah blah blah. Look, it’s way too early to question whether Steichen should pass off the play-calling duties to Jim Bob Cooter – the Colts were a productive offense last year with Gardner Minshew – but it’s something that’s going to become an issue if the Colts continue to struggle. But the same guy who developed Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts hasn’t made much in the way of progress with Anthony Richardson. Maybe it’ll happen in time. Of course, if he doesn’t play, we’ll never find out.

Grade: C-

INTANGIBLES

Now what? They’re an average-or-worse team with Anthony Richardson. They’re an average-or-worse team with Flacco. Is Kelly Holcomb busy? Anybody got Jeff George on speed dial? And now they’re in the teeth of their schedule, facing Buffalo, the Jets and Lions the next three weeks. The crazy thing is, the AFC South is still marginally winnable. The Texans are beat up, no Nico Collins, no Stefon Diggs, and they can’t protect their franchise quarterback, who’s been dealing with his own health issues. And the rest of the division flat-out stinks. This was an opportunity for the Colts, and in now-typical fashion, they blew it.

Grade: D