by Right now the Colts are 8-5 and just one game back of the 9-4 AFC South leading Jaguars. They are tied for second place with the 8-5 Houston Texans and right in the mix for the Divisional Title. Of their remaining 4 games, two of them are against the Texans and Jaguars, so they have every chance possible to rally and win the division after all.
Under Daniel Jones this season, the Colts have put together winning streaks of 3 and 4 games, before this latest 3 game losing streak, they seemed like the Cinderella story of the NFL. After all, Daniel Jones was a castoff high draft pick of the New York Giants who had a huge first 10 games of the season as the Colts went 8-2 during that stretch. Until his injury this past weekend, Jones had tossed 19 touchdowns next to only 8 interceptions. He had also thrown for 3100 yards and appeared to be their long-term answer at quarterback, a position that they have struggled with since Andrew Luck retired in 2019.
Before Jones, they tried young arms like Anthony Richardson who failed, aged veterans hanging on like Matt Ryan, Gardner Minishew, Carson Wentz and Phillip Rivers. The later, Rivers was the only one to find success in 2020 as they Colts went 11-5 before losing to the Buffalo Bills in a bizarre covid season.
While fans seem convinced that Rivers is set to come out of retirement and re-join the team, seeing his first action in five years, I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to that conclusion. I’d like to see the Colts take a flyer on Joe Flacco once again. They would have to buyout his contract from Cincinnati, and with the Bengals desperate for cash right now and only 4 games left on the contract, it is not crazy to think.
Last year with the Colts, Flacco threw for 12 touchdowns in only 6 starts while accumulating 1,761 yards. Some believe he would have remained the starter had there not been so much pressure on the coaching staff to play the high pick Richardson in his second season.
So while everyone thinks we see Rivers emerge from the mothballs, I repeat, don’t forget about Joe Flacco.
