As far as the NFL fan base goes, Colts fans are as tame and measured as they come. Most Colts fans really haven't had much to be excited about in their lives. At least compared to many other terrible organizations in the NFL. Since Peyton Manning was drafted in 1998, there has never been any hope. They were almost always competitive. They have never had two consecutive losing seasons.

Even in the year that Peyton Manning underwent neck surgery before moving to Denver, the Colts created the perfect tank for Andrew Luck. They were lucky enough to make the playoffs in his rookie season. And even after Andrew Luck's body broke down, which was nothing more than shitty bad luck, the Colts still had a good enough team around the QB they brought in this season (Brissett, Rivers, Went , Ryan, Minshew). At least give the fans hope. At least be “on the hunt”. Or as ESPN once put it, “sniffing around” the playoffs every season. That's a lot more than many NFL teams can claim. And say what you will about Jim Irsay's competence as an owner, but at least the guy cares about winning. And again… that's a lot more than many teams can claim.

But the second half of this paragraph…the part where the Colts were “good enough” to be in the hunt every year. Where “at least the Colts have a competitive roster”… That’s starting to wear thin. That may be fine if it gives you a division title and some playoff wins every two to three years. But the Colts are stuck in it.”Perhaps “Good enough to win a playoff game or two when they get hot.” ​​The goodwill that the Colts organization has built with its fans over the last 25 years is almost exhausted.

Now combine that with the first real midseason quarterback controversy I can remember with the Colts in my 32 years of life. Now Colts fans are officially pissed. And I fear the current situation between Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco will tear them apart.

To me, this current quarterback situation seems pretty simple. On the one hand, you have a quarterback in Anthony Richardson, who you drafted with the 4th pick overall. You hoped he would be the future of your franchise. Unfortunately he had some problems. Some loud problems. Struggles with the worst completion percentage in the NFL, knee, hamstring, hip, throwing shoulder and brain injuries, and highlights of that kind.

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Then Anthony Richardson left with an injury in Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Joe Flacco came in and led the Colts to a 27-24 win. Flacco followed with a 33/44, 359 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT game against the Jaguars (albeit a loss). He came back down to earth a bit against the Titans (189 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) in Week 6, but still managed to get a win.

But when Richardson got healthy, the Colts gave him another chance. When he returned, it was much more of the same. Anthony Richardson was able to defeat the Miami Dolphins' two-headed monster of Tyler Huntley and Tim Boyle (despite a 41% completion rate and the fact that his offense was booed off the field by his own fans). But in the next game he had a 31% completion performance and narrowly lost to the Texans. To be fair, his receivers didn't help him much. There were many drops. And Anthony Richardson does things with his legs that make the Colts offense not one-dimensional.

As ugly as his numbers are. As ripe as he is for viral highlights that the entire internet can laugh at. As bad as his mistakes are…Anthony Richardson does things on the field that not many NFL QBs are capable of.

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So there's still hope for the guy. But you can't watch Anthony Richardson with the Colts this season and tell me the good outweighs the bad. He became the laughing stock of the NFL. He threw rockets at 100 miles per hour 10 yards overhead over wide-open receivers. Passes where you had no idea what was going through his head when he threw the ball. You held your breath every time he fell back to pass. And of course the nail in the coffin: Anthony Richardson pulled out of the Texans game midway through because he was tired.

So there was a situation where the Colts were 4-4 and had a realistic chance of making the playoffs. Their defense had looked great at times. They have some legitimate offensive weapons. So I didn’t think it was the craziest thing in the world to say, “You know what? Maybe Anthony Richardson isn't ready yet. Joe Flacco seemed to be the better quarterback this season. “Let’s give the old guy a chance.”

Of course, some fans disagreed and would rather throw Anthony Richardson into the fire to see if he can fight his way out. But I really didn't believe that the decision to play Joe Flacco was a hugely controversial decision that spelled the end of Anthony Richardson's career. But holy shit, I was wrong. After Joe Flacco's loss to the Vikings in prime time last night, Colts fans are now demanding that every employee at Lucas Oil Stadium be shot into the sun.

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Obviously, Joe Flacco is not a long-term answer. After last night, he might not be the short-term answer either. But my God, can we relax a little?

For one thing, it's not nothing that Joe Flacco beat the Steelers, a defense that allowed the second-fewest points in the league, and then had a 350-yard game. And just last year, Flacco joined the Browns and led them to the playoffs. He finished the regular season 4-1 and threw for more than 300 passing yards in all of his wins. He beat a man who had died and came back to life and was named Comeback Player of the Year. Colts fans who act as if they knew exactly what Joe Flacco was going to give them before last night's game against the Vikings are engaging in absurd ways with the benefit of hindsight.

Not that last night wasn't terrible. Joe Flacco looked incompetent. It looks like the clock has officially struck midnight on the 39-year-old quarterback's career.

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I'm afraid Barstool may have sold the last of the Joe Flacco Elite shirts.

He undoubtedly played a crappy football game last night. And maybe he is now. But again, based on what we saw from him last month, I don't think it was the most ridiculous thing in the world to think that Flacco would have given the Colts a better chance to win this season.

Second, I will never understand why people think that benching a rookie quarterback, in this case Anthony Richardson, even though he played so many games early in his career is some kind of death sentence. Why does seeing what Joe Flacco can do in a few games mean that the Colts have completely given up on Richardson? He is 22 years old. He has so much football ahead of him. I'm sorry, but if sitting on the bench for a few games during the regular season or even the entire second half of the season destroys Anthony Richardson's development…if Anthony Richardson's psyche is so weak that he can do it. If he didn't recover mentally from this, he wouldn't make it at all.

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If the Colts continue to play Joe Flacco for the rest of the season and he continues to look like he did last night, then that's stupid as hell. Obviously that doesn't get the Colts anywhere. Personally, I would now go back to Anthony Richardson for the rest of the year. I was a Flacco guy there for a while. I don't believe in the whole Super Bowl or bust mentality. I thought if Flacco could lead them to the playoffs, it would be valuable experience for a lot of young players that would pay off in the future when the Colts hopefully have a real chance at a Super Bowl. And I thought Anthony Richardson might be able to learn a thing or two from a QB with 17 years of experience. But after Flacco's last few games, I'm not sure that's realistic. At this point I say we buckle up and enjoy the Anthony Richardson roller coaster ride of 2024.

So I don't know if Colts fans are simply overreacting because they aren't used to being in the spotlight in prime time, but to me this whole quarterback controversy is WAY overblown. The decision to play Flacco over Richardson just wasn't that big of a deal. That doesn’t have to mean the Colts have given up on their young QB. That doesn't mean Richardson's career is over. Maybe Colts fans want in on this because they're tired of Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen and see this as an opportunity to get them out. But I don't even think they built a bad team. They just don't have a QB right now.

Give the Colts a real game, and we might justifiably be talking about the Super Bowl. Who fucking knows. And maybe Anthony Richardson will evolve into that somehow. Maybe Anthony Richardson's lottery ticket, left in his hand except for the last few scratches, will end up being a winner. The great thing is, just because he's on the bench at this moment doesn't necessarily mean we'll never find out.

At least Seth is still in good spirits