Emotional Appeal: McAfee Urges Lions to Capitalize on ‘Massive Moment’ vs Colts
The Detroit Lions face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday with both teams coming off wins that raise the ceiling for both teams.
The Detroit Lions and the Indianapolis Colts are on the menu this week in the NFL. Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown are pulling off the near impossible, while the Colts have been Mission Possible this season.
Meanwhile, the Colts quarterback started the year slow and, after Anthony Richardson caused an uproar with his helmet tap, many wrote him off. The Indianapolis Colts are seemingly out of the running this year and after their last-ditch effort with Joe Flacco went down in flames, the remaining slate will be practice games.
At least, that is how most NFL fans see it. While anything is possible as long as the last-seed Denver Broncos hit a speed bump, their fate is out of their hands at this point in the season. However, that is only half of the equation. The Colts will need to pull off some big wins to have any shot in the first place. One former Colts punter is in their corner.
Pat McAfee calls it like he sees it
Speaking on the “Pat McAfee Show,” NFL analyst Pat McAfee expressed a belief that benching the quarterback caused a light to go off. This may give the Colts a chance against the red-hot Detroit Lions.
He explained: “It’s like that two-week period there where [Richardson] got benched for Joe Flacco. And even though Joe Flacco didn’t play how we thought Joe Flacco sure was going to play, I think it was a massive moment for the development of Anthony Richardson. Behind closed doors, we’re being told, like night and day here,” he said.
“Now we got like a different operating procedure. And I think if you’re Shane Steichen, you should be pumped. If you’re a Colts fan, you should be pumped.
“And if you’re Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions, I think we should be maybe some scaredy cats up here. The Lions should have a little deeper purr maybe going on this week because you got a mad Colts team that can still get in,” he added.
Of course, benching players can also provide a boost that only works for a short while. However, as proven by quarterbacks such as Blake Bortles, those boosts don’t last forever. Bortles was benched in the leadup to a campaign that saw the Jacksonville Jaguars reach the AFC Championship in 2017. While the fire burned bright for Bortles that season, he threw his last pass in the league in 2019. Still, in 2024 with a young quarterback under center, the lesson has a chance to last longer for the Richardson.
