Will Joe Flacco take the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs? The team hasn’t made the postseason since the 2020 campaign. That was back when Philip Rivers was the quarterback.
Flacco is now the Colts’ starting signal-caller, replacing the young Anthony Richardson. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Richardson was benched recently.
Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, has had a disastrous start to his career. The former Florida Gator missed all but four games due to injury last year. He has missed two games this season after injuring his hip in Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Currently, Richardson is the league’s 32nd-ranked passer with a mark of 57.2. He has completed just 44.4% of his passes. Richardson has also recorded four touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season. Plus, his “tap out of the game because he was tired” incident surely played a role in his being benched.
It’s unclear whether Joe Flacco will be the starter for the remainder of the season. If he is, he might do his best Philip Rivers impersonation and get Indy back to the playoffs.
Joe Flacco Could Pull a Philip Rivers and Lead the Colts to the Playoffs
Philip Rivers was the Man in 2020
Andrew Luck retired out of the blue right before the 2019 regular season. The Colts would struggle that year, finishing with a 7-9 record and missing the playoffs. Jacoby Brissett served as the starting quarterback.
During the following offseason, though, Indianapolis signed Rivers as a free agent. Seeing Rivers in a Colts uniform was weird after spending his first 16 years with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers. It was also interesting, knowing that his Chargers teams were a thorn in the Colts’ side for several years during the Peyton Manning era.
Rivers would play great in his lone season in Indy. The eight-time Pro-Bowler threw for 4,169 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. The Colts finished with an 11-5 record but lost to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round. Rivers threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns in the 27-24 loss. He retired following the season.
Flacco’s Colts’ story can be sort of similar to Rivers’. He’s 39 years old, while Rivers was 38 during his stint with the team. Flacco obviously can’t go 11-5 like Rivers did. Yet, he can still be that old veteran leader who powers the Colts to a postseason berth.
Flacco possesses a ton of experience. He knows how to win. He has won a Super Bowl and a Super Bowl MVP. Plus, he took home Comeback Player of the Year honors last season after leading the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs.
Can the Colts Realistically Reach the Postseason?
The Colts currently own a 4-4 record. They’re likely not giving to catch up with the 6-3 Houston Texans and win the AFC South. That means to make the playoffs, they’ll have to land a wildcard spot. Right now, the Colts are .5 a game out of a playoff spot.
Indianapolis has a tough schedule coming up. In their next four games, they’ll face the Minnesota Vikings, Bills, New York Jets, and Detroit Lions. Yes, that’s a ferocious schedule.
If the Colts beat the Vikings, they’ll have a 62 percent chance of making the playoffs. But if they lose the contest, they’ll have a 37 percent chance.
The Colts have a realistic shot to reach the playoffs if they can somehow go 2-2 over the next four games. Flacco gives the team a better chance to win than Richardson does. If he’s the starter for the rest of the season, he could lead them to the postseason. But it will be a really difficult task. We shall see how everything plays out.
Main Image: Andrew Nelles – USA Today Sports
