How Far The Colts Have Come: Last Year Mike Tomlin Told Steelers to NOT Injure Anthony Richardson So Joe Flacco Wouldn't Enter The Game

SI – While discussing the team's upcoming Week 4 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, who will be starting their backup quarterback in Carson Wentz, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin likened the situation to what his defense experienced last season against the Indianapolis Colts.

In doing so, however, Tomlin threw shade at former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson, who left during the first quarter of that game with a hip injury before veteran Joe Flacco entered and led the Colts to a 27-24 win over Pittsburgh.

"We were in a similar situation a year ago when we were playing in Indianapolis man," Tomlin said. "I commented to the guys, you know, 'Keep [Anthony] Richardson upright. Don't put Flacco in the game.' You know, Flacco ended up in the game. I think that's often times some of the things that you can run into when you run into a veteran guy. At least from a short-term perspective."
Richardson was still largely inexperienced at that time, as he was making just his eighth career start vs. the Steelers, which Tomlin seemingly believed he could use to his advantage before Flacco was called upon.

What a stark difference it is between the 2024, and the 2025 Indianapolis Colts. Last season, going into Week 4, the Colts were 1-2 (with their lone win coming over the saddest franchise in professional sports, the Chicago Bears). At this point last season, the Colts were headed into a matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. At that time, Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin was quite literally begging his defense to NOT hit Anthony Richardson too hard. Because the absolute worst thing that could happen to his team was that 39-year old Joe Flacco take over the game. Mike Tomlin knew that Anthony Richardson stunk. Steelers fans knew it. The Colts team probably knew it. The only people who didn't know it were Colts' fans like myself who were deluding themselves into believing Anthony Richardson wasn't complete bust.

Fast forward to Week 4 in 2025. Joe Flacco is gone. Anthony Richardson may or may not still be alive. And Daniel Jones has the Indianapolis Colts 3-0.

The National Football League is so unpredictable. Heading into this season, the Colts fanbase may have been the most pessimistic fanbase in all of football. At the start of the pre-season, Colts fans were still in a full-blown race war over who the starting QB should be. I'll admit, I wanted Anthony Richardson to start myself. I thought Daniel Jones was a lost cause. I thought the least we could do is play Anthony Richardson until he was so injured that he was no longer able to walk at his son's graduation. I thought turning the keys over to a New York Giants reject was a death sentence to the franchise. But holy shit... if the first 3 weeks of this season are any indication... I could not have been more wrong. Daniel Jones has been perfect. The Colts are back. When you factor in how unexpected this 3-0 start has been, this is arguably the most fun I've had as a Colts fan since the Peyton Manning era. 

The 2025 Colts are just one isolated incident. No two teams gain success in the exact same way. And to be fair, the Colts could very well end up 5-12 this year. 3 weeks of wins don't mean shit in the NFL. It's a long season. But if the Colts really do end up as good as they seem to be... you can't help but wonder if this team is a prime example of, "NFL teams should stop trying to build their franchises on the backs of superhero QB's."

Clearly, I don't know shit about how to build an NFL team. But after watching the Colts' start to this season, I can't help but wonder if NFL teams should maybe focus a little more on building a complete team first. Then once they have that team, instead of turning the keys over to a lottery ticket rookie like Anthony Richardson, they should simply poach a decent/experienced QB from a rudderless franchise like the NY Giants. A franchise who was asking Daniel Jones to be Superman, and wanted to unfairly blame all of their problems on him because he couldn't singlehandedly Patrick Mahomes them to multiple Super Bowls in a short span. But if you give Daniel Jones a great O-Line, a reliable receiving core, the best running back in the NFL, and a competent defense... then maybe he can deliver everything you need.

Just look at the Minnesota Vikings right now. They have a complete team. A team so complete that it nearly won Sam fucking Darnold the MVP last year. But because NFL GM's are so brainwashed into thinking they have to build their rosters a certain way, they kicked Sam Darnold to the curb after one bad playoff game. All in favor of an unproven rookie QB in J.J. McCarthy. And the second J.J. McCarthy starts to suck, the Vikings tap in an experienced QB in Carson Wentz, and suddenly they're playing like an elite team again.

Look at Jared Goff with the Detroit Lions. Jared Goff is an above average QB, but he's not good enough to pull the Carolina Panthers out of obscurity. But is he more than good enough to captain a well-rounded team with a competent head coach like the Detroit Lions? Absolutely he is. 

Again, I thought the Colts should start Anthony Richardson this year. I'm a idiot in that regard. I'm not trying to pretend that I know I'm right in saying this. Just last year, Jayden Daniels pulled the Washington Commanders out of complete obscurity and took them to the NFC Championship game his rookie season. But it seems to me a disproportionate amount of franchises think a golden ticket QB is the only solution to their problems. In reality, I can't help but think there's a lot of competent QB's out there who are capable of leading teams to a Super Bowl. Those teams just have to meet them halfway with a competent roster first.