INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Sunday’s end of Daylight Saving Time and a ‘flex’ to a prime time kickoff gave Indianapolis Colts fans several extra hours of optimism Sunday.

Then, it all evaporated in a jumble of stuffed runs and incomplete passes in a 21-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

“The Vikings were the better team – on offense, on defense,” Daybreak Colts contributor Heather Lloyd said bluntly in her weekly post-game appearance. “And special teams (were) a mess on both sides.”

For Lloyd, Colts-Vikings matchups always come with added personal interest.

“This game was actually the team I grew up watching against the team I follow now,” she explained with a mix of anguish and humor. “And I have to thank the Vikings, because they prepared me for the pain I now feel as a Colts fan.”

Defense digs in

Lloyd says the scoreboard did not tell the full story of the Colts’ defensive effort.

“The defense made it a long night for quarterback Sam Daronld. So much so, that (television analyst) Cris Collinsworth created a nickname for the trio of DeForest Bucker, Zaire Franklin, and Grover Stewart: ‘The Triangle of Terror’.”

Unfortunately for the Colts and their fans, a time of posession split of nearly 37 minutes for the Vikings compared to 23 for Indianapolis left the “Triangle” on the field far too long.

“In the end, the Vikings offense won the battle. And the Vikings defense won the game.”

No answer to QB question

I asked Heather for her take on the quarterback swap, and whether Joe Flacco or Anthony Richardson should start in two weeks against the Bills.

“I actually have to go backwards to answer that question, to April of 2023,” she said. “Because the truth is, the Colts were never in a position to draft a prospect like Anthony Richardson. He was 20 years old, had very little starting experience at quarterback, and the Colts had been going around the quarterback carousel for four years already. They were in need of a quarterback who could start now.”

Lloyd feels Richardson would have thrived if he had gotten the chance to sit behind a veteran at the start of his career.

“You can’t learn the fundamentals of football while you’re on the field with the biggest, fastest, strongest players in the world coming at you on every play,” she said. “It’s not working. Richardson is not improving.”

Back home again

“The good news is they’re at home on Sunday. The bad news is, they host the 7-2 Bills,” Heather said, explaining the Vikings game was just the beginning of a gauntlet. “Over the next three weeks, the Colts face two of the best teams in the NFL. They benched their young quarterback. The kicker is unreliable… It’s fine. It’s all fine.”

“During the good times, Colts fans used to tell me – it wasn’t always like this. We had some rough years before. I would say, “I grew up a Vikings fan. Trust me, I know pain.”