Joe Flacco leads Indianapolis Colts to embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Vikings

After leading in the first half, the Colts were looking to see more production from their offense after the defense was responsible for the only points scored. Joe Flacco took over as starter after Anthony Richardson was benched, but his performance was not nearly as productive as head coach Shane Steichen would likely have hoped.

Instead, his performance largely mirrored Richardson's, with several poor throws and one turnover during a botched hand-off to Jonathan Taylor. Thankfully for the Colts, the defense was at the top of their game, racking up sacks and forcing fumbles to put Indianapolis on top.

The Vikings received the ball in the second half, and quarterback Sam Darnold led the team down the field, quickly getting into the end zone. Every one of their drives in the first half took them to the end zone as well, but they couldn't convert to points on the board each time; this drive, they finally managed to score a touchdown, tying the game at 7-7.

Unfortunately, the Colts offense did not respond in kind. Flacco faced constant pressure from the Minnesota defense, and was nearly sacked; he tried to throw the ball away, and it was nearly intercepted. Steichen elected to go for it on 4th and 6, only for Flacco to get a delay of game penalty. At that point, the offense left the field and punted the ball to the Vikings.

That led to another scoring drive for the Vikings, who took the lead 14-7.

The Colts had the ball through the end of the third quarter, and began the fourth driving down the field. Flacco was taken down as he tried to escape the pressure, and the Colts got a penalty also, putting them at 2nd and 25. They followed that up with a false start, putting them even further back, at 2nd and 30.

Thankfully, Flacco managed to get the ball to Adonai Mitchell, who made an incredible catch while managing to stay in bounds, for a gain of 22 yards.

Unfortunately, Flacco followed that up with an interception on a pass intended for Josh Downs, who was quite clearly not open.

Luckily for the Colts, Nick Cross saved them by immediately intercepting a pass from Darnold, putting the offense back onto the field. The offense was again ineffective, but managed to get within field goal range, and this time, Matt Gay got it within the uprights, putting the score at 14-10.

As the Vikings offense took over, their drive was brought to a halt by Kwity Paye, and they were forced to punt. Flacco and the offense came back into the field with just over nine minutes left to play.

It started off poorly, with Jonathan Taylor inexplicably dropping a pass he easily should have caught; thankfully, Flacco followed that up with a pass to Alec Pierce for the first down. At 3rd and 1, Taylor went above and beyond with a gain of seven, for the first sustained drive the Colts had so far during this game.

On 3rd and 2, Flacco tried to throw to Michael Pittman Jr., who was under heavy coverage and couldn't hold onto the ball. Shane Steichen opted to go for it, though, on 4th and 2, and Flacco threw again - and again, threw to a receiver, Ashton Dulin, who was under heavy coverage, and couldn't make the catch.

As with previous games this season, Steichen made the baffling decision in the fourth quarter, on downs with just a few yards to go, to take Jonathan Taylor off the field and throw the ball instead

The Vikings took over on their own 40-yard line with 5:20 left on the clock. They ate up three minutes on the clock, and ended the drive with a touchdown, extending their lead to 11 points.

Considering how lackluster the Colts offense had been throughout the game, it was going to be a tough deficit to come back from. And almost immediately, their drive started off on the wrong foot, with Flacco sacked... twice, on back-to-back plays.

He managed to get a first down with a pass to Josh Downs, but that was followed up by yet another sack. Under heavy pressure, he was set to get sacked again, so Flacco threw the ball away - and it was caught by Camrun Bynum. The Colts were only saved thanks to a pass interference call, which gave them a first down.

They sent Matt Gay out, despite having a first down, to attempt a 54-yard field goal, which this time was successful, putting the Colts just one touchdown away from a tie. The on-side kick, however, was recovered by the Vikings, putting an end to a game and calling Steichen's Flacco experiment into question.

Ultimately, the person who might have come out of this loss looking the worst is Steichen himself.