Whose fault is Colts quarterback position?

That shouldn't have happened. The Indianapolis Colts didn't have to suffer from the ineffective Jacoby Brissett, the wandering Philip Rivers, the indifferent Carson Wentz and the incompetent Matt Ryan to reach rock bottom in 2022 – only to decide on October 29, 2024, two years after he made it No. 4 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft had decided that their 22-year-old franchise quarterback wasn't good enough. But that's exactly what the Colts did on Tuesday, casting aside Anthony Richardson and turning to Joe Flacco's replacement to clinch a spot in the 2024 NFL playoffs.

What that means for Richardson tomorrow is unclear. Will he even show up at the Colts complex on Wednesday, the first day of preparation for the Colts' visit to Minnesota on Sunday? Oh, probably. Will he serve as backup quarterback to the still-effective Joe Flacco, or will third-stringer Sam Ehlinger take over that spot so Richardson can work privately on the issues that got us here until the final day, which is for the Quarterback shame will live? Franchise that once gave us Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck?

While we're asking questions, I have another one:

Whose fault is this?

And the church said: All! And the church is right, not just because Micah Beckwith isn't leading this flock, but if he were in the pulpit on his 56th year^Th In addition to their quarterback problems, Street the Colts also have tax problems and credibility problems.

Tell me, who should play quarterback for the Colts according to Mike Braun? What does Jennifer McCormick say?

Can we just leave the state in the hands of Gov. Eric Holcomb?

As we return to the good old days…could we see if Andrew Luck comes out of retirement?

News: Anthony Richardson is on the bench, the Colts are starting Joe Flacco at quarterback against the Vikings

Excuse me. Had to ask. This is me channeling my inner Indianapolis Colt manager and looking for solutions, answers or scapegoats. At this point, everything is on the table because, as it turns out, we are have Back to the good old days:

Welcome to August 24, 2019, the day Andrew Luck retired and blew up the next five years for the Indianapolis Colts.

Here we are again, October 29, 2024. The Colts simply blew up the next two or three (or four or five) years because on Tuesday owner Jim Irsay, coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard got the best of them The first lump of clay in NFL quarterback history, a young quarterback from Florida named Anthony Richardson, threw it into the dustbin of time.

Doyel on Sunday: The unpredictable Anthony Richardson was too tired to finish a ride? Unplug.

Doyel on Monday: Richardson wasn't good enough, but neither was Shane Steichen

Ugh: Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan

The Colts will tell us more about why on Wednesday, and I'm warning you now: Believe what they say – believe what any of them say – at your own risk. For years, this franchise has done its best to tell us the truth, I admit, except in the moments where the truth was just too inconvenient. And then they danced.

They've danced about Richardson's health for weeks, and on Monday they danced even more about his status as a starter. Steichen tried to avoid the topic – I had to ask him twice before he would say the magic words: “We evaluate everything” — but now the problem has been exposed and leaked to ESPN and NFL Network on Tuesday, because that's how a really bad franchise sends messages:

By allowing anyone associated with the franchise – be it a player agent, a coach or a staff member – to use Richardson's downfall to curry favor with this or that NFL reporter, as if the morons who spread the news were in have real power in this league.

Do you know who really has the power in this league? Social media. It was Twitter that took a look at Anthony Richardson on Sunday night and Monday morning and decided that an NFL quarterback should never leave a game, even for one play, because he was too tired. Immediately after Sunday's game, before checking the wind on social media, Steichen said Richardson was his quarterback.

On Monday afternoon the team was busy “evaluating everything”.

On Tuesday afternoon it was “Goodbye, Anthony Richardson,” “Hello to whoever looks good in the 2025 NFL Draft.”

Here too we need someone to blame. Some of us have tried to be patient with the Colts for years, and there were reasons:

In 2019, they had no choice but to turn to backup Brissett when Luck stunned the Colts (didn't he?) by retiring two weeks before the 2019 opener.

In 2020, they thought they had a great quarterback for two or three more years when they signed Philip Rivers, but were then surprised to see him retire after one year.

In 2021, they thought they had a really good quarterback in his prime when they reunited Carson Wentz with his former offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, then-Colts coach Frank Reich, only to be surprised that Wentz was 6-5, 237 pound of empty vessel – and washed up, to boot.

In 2022, they thought they had a really good quarterback who was a little past his prime but still had enough tread on the tires that Matt Ryan could win games now and be a bridge to their quarterback of the future – just to be surprised that Ryan had fallen off a cliff, followed by Reich, whose back was covered in Jeff Saturday's handprints.

In 2023, they thought they had drafted a potential superstar in the NFL, a 6-4, 245-pound sprinter with a huge arm and a great attitude, only to be surprised to find that Richardson's accuracy was unfixable and his attitude Couldn't survive a 2-for-15 start in Houston.

Are you like me? Are you tired of the Colts being caught off guard by their quarterback issues?

Doyel in 2019: Jacoby Brissett is doing the Colts a favor by playing so poorly in the loss to the Jags

Doyel in 2020: Philip Rivers is retiring, the Colts need a quarterback and it's almost Groundhog Day

Doyel in 2021: Do you think practice would have helped COVID-stricken Carson Wentz against the Raiders? He doesn't do it

Doyel in 2022: Would whoever runs the Colts please bench QB Matt Ryan?

Blame: Jim Irsay, Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen, Anthony Richardson

That's why we blame Shane Steichen for not being able to reach Richardson. We blame Chris Ballard for not being able to surround Richardson with enough firepower at receiver and tight end. We blame Jim Irsay for his unwillingness to open his checkbook and overpay – for heaven's sake, if he has to – for top-notch pass-catching talent, hoping to come up with an average corps of receivers and a one-person running back whose only person, Jonathan Taylor, is a known injury risk.

We blame all three — Irsay, Ballard, Steichen — for making Richardson worth the No. 4 overall pick in 2023 instead of trying to trade for CJ Stroud.

You blame all the people above Richardson, and you blame receiver Adonai Mitchell for dropping a handful of passes and going against a handful of others this season. They blame Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. for their regular inability to be open enough. They blame Taylor for dropping a few easy passes this season and running back Tyler Goodson for dropping a touchdown pass. They blame the tight ends for…well, for doing whatever they do. Because it's not good enough.

And you blame Richardson for not making the transition from moderately accurate college passer to moderately accurate NFL passer. Because if Richardson was only moderately accurate, say, completing 57% of his passes, he would be the Colts' QB1 for the next decade. For one thing, that value would slowly increase – just as it has increased for Buffalo's Josh Allen, who is the closest thing to Richardson in size, physicality, arm strength and college precision – and two, with Richardson's unparalleled combination of size and speed , 57% passers make it when he is so dangerous with his legs.

But Richardson completed 44.4% of his passes this season when the Colts pulled the plug, and while his 10-for-32 stat line on Sunday was undermined by a handful of drops, don't even go there. Just don't do it.

And of course blame Richardson for giving up in the third quarter on Sunday. Was he tired? Can't hear it. Quarterbacks are not running backs, linebackers or receivers. They don't look out of games for a moment because they do tired. They heard the reaction Sunday from former players around the league who were stunned by his decision to opt out of the game. You heard Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly's reaction on Monday:

“It’s not the standard he has to live up to and the rest of the team is holding it up,” Kelly said. “I know he has to take criticism for this, and rightly so. It looks tough.”

Now the Colts begin their ninth game of the 2024 NFL season with a look we've seen far too often here: a mediocre team facing a huge quarterback hole, and one or two – or three or four – in the next it looks like more misery.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.

More: Join the text conversation with sports columnist Gregg Doyel for insights, reader questions and behind-the-scenes insights from Doyel.

Whose fault is Colts quarterback position?

Ugh: Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan

Blame: Jim Irsay, Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen, Anthony Richardson

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