Indianapolis Colts quarterback Joe Flacco spent some time reviewing last week’s game footage and came to a clear conclusion: he needs to play better — and so does the entire offense.
Flacco, 39, has been the starting quarterback for the Colts since midseason, but he and the offense are still struggling to find consistency, especially when it comes to staying on the field and maintaining long drives.
“It’s never easy to look in the mirror after losses,” Flacco said. “It’s just the nature of this business, and that’s part of building a team — being able to face those challenges.
We’ve had that challenge a couple of times this year, and we’ve done a good job responding. We just have to continue doing that and trust that our preparation will guide us through the game and help us play the way we want to.”
This won’t be an easy task, especially against the Buffalo Bills (7-2), who are leading the AFC East. The Colts (4-5) will also have to deal with an offensive line that could include multiple rookie players.
This is not where the Colts expected to be. After stringing together four wins in five games, they now find themselves trying to bounce back from two straight losses. They also have to deal with the decision to name Flacco the starter over second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Despite the quarterback changes, the struggles on offense have continued. Richardson was out last week, and the Colts scored a touchdown off a pick-6, settled for a field goal after another takeaway without earning a first down, and managed just one more field goal drive. The team ended up with only 227 total yards of offense.
“That’s just not good enough,” Flacco said.
“We had a few third-and-medium situations last week that we didn’t convert, but we need to get back on track on third down,” said head coach Shane Steichen. “We were more efficient there earlier in the season. The last two weeks haven’t been up to our standards, so we need to improve.”
Buffalo also has its own concerns on offense. Quarterback Josh Allen has been strong, throwing 17 touchdown passes and only two interceptions, but injuries may leave his receiving group short-handed for Sunday’s game.
This could mean running back James Cook gets more touches as the Bills look to rely on their ground game, especially against a Colts defense that has struggled with stopping the run all season.
Allen isn’t worried, though.
“It doesn’t have to be pretty, but good teams find ways to win,” Allen said. “We’ve got a lot of guys in the locker room who don’t care about the end result or the style points. They just want to make sure we’re getting the job done.”
The Colts are trying to figure out how to do the same.
