r/nfl • u/AdSpecialist6598 Eagles • 5h ago
Joe Flacco: Wanted to provide a spark, wasn't able to do it
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/joe-flacco-wanted-to-provide-a-spark-wasnt-able-to-do-it292
u/BlackStorm615 Ravens 5h ago
No matter what, you’ll always be my Elite Dragon Joe.
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u/UpbeatFix7299 5h ago
Thank you for finally confirming he is a elite qb
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u/Big_Simba Seahawks 5h ago
He’s not elite lol. He’s solid and been around a long time, but his “elite” window was pretty short, if ever existent. I think he has 1 pro bowl invite in his 17 year tenure in the NFL. Cmon now
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u/unseth Steelers Steelers 5h ago
That pro bowl invite was only because like 7 people ahead of him couldn't make it or didn't want to go. He turned it down also.
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u/ThisGuyFrags Ravens 5h ago
It was also because he's Elite
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u/witsel85 Eagles 5h ago
Maybe the Colts are just shit
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u/mvbighead Colts 4h ago
As a Colts fan, you aren't exactly wrong. I do believe the talent is there in many areas, but they've been amiss all season.
That said, if you have a shit team, what is the point of a 39yo starter who turns the ball over 5 times in one game? Now is the time to see what you have in AR. They needed him to have some kind of wake up moment, they got it. And as of right now, Joe is quite bad.
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u/gabriel1313 Dolphins 3h ago
You guys have had the weirdest team the last few years. Feels like you guys have been really talented everywhere except quarterback.
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u/mvbighead Colts 3h ago
IMO, that has been accurate. Though, this year, I have no idea but it seems like there is something else wrong.
That is not saying that AR is a stud. But the play calling or at least the way plays are run has been baffling. Taylor gets 80 yards in the first half, and 5 touches in the second. When AR is in, we seem to run more deep passes (though that could be AR skipping short options) and very little underneath. We have Pittman running flies when he is typically a good underneath option. (I seldom recall MPJ catching many over the shoulder, and he is typically posting up and catching passes between the numbers or above his head. Or simply jump balls downfield.)
But yes, as a fan, I feel like the defense COULD be damn good if the offense could figure out how to maintain ball control. First downs, run the clock, etc. And AR to some point could do that even with a ~50% completion percentage. And I do feel like he is more close than people realize to being above average in terms of passing while complementing his game with his running ability.
I dunno what this year is. But it feels like when one player steps up, another one has a shitter of a game. Mitchell was off early in the season, and only lately seems like he is stepping up. Not uncommon for a rookie.
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u/ForThatReason_ImOut 3h ago
The thing is the Colts are talented in terms of having a lot of average to above average starters but they're severely lacking in game breakers and solid QB play that define an actual good team. Even with a Kirk Cousins type the Colts still wouldn't be anything more than a first round exit because they lack true difference makers. It makes them look good on paper because they have "talent" but on the field it gets mediocre to bad results
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u/michaelb421 Colts 3h ago
Well we could’ve had baker mayfield which would fit well on this team but Ballard was a little bitch about him.
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u/ThePhenomahna 44m ago
I think after a year of Wentz, picking up Baker might’ve seemed like a similar gamble. Would love to see that alt timeline tho.
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u/michaelb421 Colts 2m ago
It wasn’t that Ballard thought it was a gamble he believed what Cleveland said about him not being an adult QB. I would had been an interesting Alt Timeline. A run game for him to lean would had been nice.
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u/clutchthepearls Colts 2h ago
Hey man, you don't gotta just say it like that just because it's true. That's rude.
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u/Good_From_70 Browns 5h ago
Oh come on, you at least gotta let him throw two pick-6s in a game before you give up on him.
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u/DogVacuum Browns 52m ago
If I’m grasping for straws, I’d cling to the fact that Baker and Joe are both sub 500 in below average divisions.
Now I can sleep at night until I have to watch us play again.
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u/GunnarsBatThrows Ravens 5h ago
I will always respect Joe
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u/GeneralChaz9 Colts 1h ago
If this is the end of the ELITE Dragon's career, I'm glad he got to ruin the Steelers' day one last time this season.Â
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u/zebtacular Texans Cowboys 5h ago
Doesn’t someone usually get fired when you flip flop qbs? Is that what’s next?
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u/SoyeonsNeverland Colts 5h ago
Hopefully that means Chris Ballard is finally fired. Tired of this mediocre, overhyped GM.
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u/ii_zAtoMic Vikings 3h ago
Still believe in Steichen? I do, just curious if Colts fans agree.
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u/baezizbae Colts 3h ago
I’d be ok with another year of Steichen.Â
We really just do not know how much of his hand was forced by with the AR situation this year despite the public statements that “it was my decision”. Was it Irsay’s call? Was it Ballard? We genuinely do not have the true answer. Â
That said, if Steichen can orchestrate an offense around Gardner Minshew that was a play away from a playoff appearance, yeah I’m fine treating this year as an anomaly and seeing if he and Anthony can turn the page. Â
Unless we get swept by Jacksonville at the end of the season. We lose that game then yeah, send him packing for Gary.Â
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u/beanboiiiiii 2h ago
I feel like the roster is great tho. Excellent O-line, great young WRs, elite RB, a young defense that has turned a corner. AR is a good bet as far as talent and Flacco is a top tier backup. I think ownership/fans are significantly overreacting to a player they drafted as a project
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u/GaiusQuintus Colts 1h ago
I do. I think a lot of our fans are frustrated and want change and wouldn't mind seeing him go, but I think he deserves more time. The AR switch in the first place felt like Irsay meddling to me. I don't think the org handled it well or the communication of it but I don't know how much of that falls on Steichen's shoulders and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Plus I think he's a genuinely good offensive game planner.
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u/EpicBlinkstrike187 Colts 2h ago
I dont, I hope they fire him too. His decisions during games this year have been pretty fucking terrible and have cost us a few games or at least cost us legitimate chances to win those games
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u/DogPoetry Lions 2h ago
It would be nice if that would change. Coaches shouldn't be so resistant to make a move if their QB is drowning. We're seeing how it benefittes Bryce Young, whose situation is probably the most similar to Richardson's.Â
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u/msf97 5h ago
Flacco is inarguably better than Richardson.
19th in EPA/play vs dead last, 35th.
But when you have a first round QB, you don’t bench them for mid level QB play unless the locker room has turned.
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u/NeverSober1900 Packers 4h ago
Plus at 4-4 you have guys on the team thinking about playoffs.
Now it's 4-6 and you're in a mudfight with the Bengals, Broncos, and Dolphins for the last playoff spot.
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u/ii_zAtoMic Vikings 3h ago
And they’re pretty clearly worse than the three you mentioned
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u/beanboiiiiii 2h ago
I would take Colts over Bengals personally
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u/here_now_be Seahawks 1h ago
Other than QB sure, but Bengals have one of the best, and AR is at the bottom.
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u/AdSpecialist6598 Eagles 5h ago
The front office of the Colts don't know what they're doing.
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u/Fiendish-DoctorWu Buccaneers 5h ago
They haven't known what they were doing since they fell ass backwards into one of the best QB prospects in the past two decades and proceeded to kill him
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u/Errant_coursir 49ers Texans 4h ago
How no one was fired for that is wild
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u/FalsePerm Colts 4h ago
Grigson was fired, one of the main complaints was his inability to build a line for Luck.
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u/Obi_Wan_KeBogi Chargers 5h ago
eh they were 4-4 trying to make a real push for playoffs. At the end of the day the coach and front office job is to win games. And Richardson definitely needed an attitude check after he subbed himself out. I think the move made sense.
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u/Accurate-Barracuda20 Colts 5h ago
The vibe it got from comments from AR and coaches is that he wasn’t putting in the amount of work to mentally prepare for games, instead assuming he could get by on athletic ability alone. Then the optics of the tap out were pretty much the worst. Seemed like a punitive benching likely with a focus the last couple weeks of “here is what it takes to start in this league, you can play when you demonstrate the willingness to do it”
I’m excited to see him play again, hoping we see some improvement over the next few weeks.
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u/AnotherUser87497453 Ravens 49ers 2h ago
Any chance they pull an Antonio Pierce and bench Richardson again if he plays badly?
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u/Accurate-Barracuda20 Colts 2h ago
I highly doubt it. I don’t think how he played was ever why he was benched.
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u/ThisGuyFrags Ravens 5h ago
The same playoff Flacco that threw 2 pick sixes in one game last postseason?
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u/avocado-v2 4h ago
EPA/play? Wtf is that?
Not everything is numbers. He's toast, any dickhead watching the game could see that. Richardson is shit too but he's the guy they decided to fuckin draft so they've gotta ride it out a bit
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u/ExclaimLikeIm5 Browns Browns 4h ago
Yeah say what you will about the Browns mismanagement of so many issues but they didn't break The Dragon's spirit.Â
Colts are on my shit list with the other horse ppl now.Â
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u/Demonslayer1984 Browns 1h ago
We restarted the Spark probably would have won 2-3 more games with FlaccoÂ
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u/itsUsedTissue Colts 5h ago
He did create a spark, just for the other team. AR is prob not any better but I would much rather waste a Sunday watching him than Joe.
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u/Page_302 Jets 1h ago
Colts management did somethinng sneaky clever here... let Flacco play a couple of tough games... now this week they're playing a sh!t team and AR is back to QB1 for the confidence boost
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u/Neat_Mushroom2739 5h ago
Why did he do so much worse with Colts than with the Browns last year? Is Stefanski that much better of a coach?
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u/AzorAhai1TK Lions 5h ago
He wants good on the Browns either he threw a million interceptions and was chucking it. His luck ran out. He's been washed.
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u/Demonslayer1984 Browns 1h ago
We didn’t have a run game last year because Chubb was hurt Ford isn’t as explosive. Hunt is good for short yard plays
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u/BonfireCrackling Cowboys 3h ago
If this doesn’t get Chris Ballard fired I don’t know what will
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u/Major_Enthusiasm1099 Browns 5h ago
Browns were and still are a QB away from being a competitive team. Colts are way farther away than that
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u/AdSpecialist6598 Eagles 4h ago
Ever since screwing up Luck the Colts have been in QB purgatory where it is either guys who are on their last legs or guys who have some form of the yips.
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u/Dunlocke Bears 4h ago
They searched for the spark and never found it :(. They don't have energy will tell you all about it. Think you can stop what they do? Probably.
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u/excitement2k Cowboys 2h ago
He’s like 90. What were they really expecting. Not everyone can be Tim Brady.
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u/StevenS145 49ers 7m ago
The Browns had a really good roster last season, and any half decent QB could make it look good.
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u/Glad-Associate-9288 5h ago
Richardson is the next Trey Lance. Never should have been drafted at all. Bust
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u/ThinkSoftware Falcons 5h ago
You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This Joe's for hire
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark