Open thread for the Colts vs. Vikings game of week 9

The Indianapolis Colts are on the road to take on the Minnesota Vikings in their Week 9 game on Sunday at 8:20 p.m. EST.

Week eight concluded the Houston Texans' season win over the Colts. The defense surprisingly played really well. We saw DeForest Buckner return and with him, the defensive line had its best performance of the year, which also impacted the other two levels of the defense.

The offensive sputtered. Anthony Richardson, I don't know, didn't complete a lot of his passes. His receivers didn't catch contested catches and his head coach didn't call high-percentage, rushing passes until the second half (where Richardson played much better).

The game ended and then it was a quiet week. Not much of note happened at all.

Either way, Joe Flacco will start at quarterback this week because Shane Steichen believes he gives them the best chance to win the game. Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn't. We'll find out. My biggest concern is how Flacco will impact the running game. With Richardson, rush lanes will always be there for his back as defenses have to account for his legs. The defense doesn't have to account for Joe Flacco on the floor at all, so it may be harder to find running lanes.

Defensively, the Colts face a rejuvenated Sam Darnold, who the New York Jets (a bad franchise) threw to the Wolves, failed to develop, and then sent him out of town, saying he was the problem, not theirs Teammate, not the guys who made the decisions and not the guys who made the plays. No, it was Darnold. Now that Darnold is getting a real second chance, he's playing like a borderline top-10 quarterback. Something the Jets would like to have.

I'm not drawing parallels, I'm just telling the story. When you see some, you may wonder why.

Whatever the case, the defense needs to face Darnold and pressure him early and often. He likes to throw deeper and receiver Justin Jefferson is perhaps the best outside hitter in all of football. The Vikings aren't a great rushing team, but the Colts have made pedestrian rushing attacks look a lot better than before. Therefore, Buckner's continued presence and fine play will be of utmost importance in prime time tonight.

And no matter what happens on the field tonight, we'll likely be sharing some highlights from the halftime entertainment on social media:

The Colts mascot Blue, created and dressed each week by Trey Mock, was the Colts nominee for the Salute to Service Award, a rare nomination for a mascot:

In real life, Blue and Vikings mascot Viktor Viking are good friends, and Blue will be at the game tonight to take part in the mascot game against a group of naive elementary school football players. These poor kids think they have a chance but will never see it coming:

No matter what happens to our Colts tonight, at least we have Blue.

As always, Colts go.

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Information about the game Colts vs. Vikings

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This is your open thread for week nine, so stick around, chat, celebrate, commiserate, and argue in the comments! Go wild (within reason)!

Come on, Colts!