INDIANAPOLIS – Disappointed but not discouraged.

That was the tone struck by Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen as he met the media for his weekly video conference call Monday.

After installing Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback and declaring the goal of ending the franchise’s four-year playoff slump, Steichen watched his offense put together a season-low total of 227 yards and fail to score a touchdown in a 21-13 loss against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night.

“(J)ust looking back at the game, watching the game again this morning a few times – disappointing,” Steichen said. “Obviously, any time you lose, it’s disappointing, but the way we lost was very disappointing. So you go back, you do as best you can, clean it up, grind at it.

“You’ve got to work. and that’s what it comes down to. We’ve got to put in the work each and every week to get the results we want going forward.”

The Colts (4-5) have little time to dwell on the setback.

The Buffalo Bills (7-2) visit Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday and will make it anything but simple to end a two-game losing streak.

Flacco must rebound after going 16-of-27 for 179 yards with no touchdowns and one interception against the Vikings.

Steichen said Flacco remains the starting quarterback for now.

“(I)t was one game,” Steichen said. “It was one game that he went out there, and, again, we’ve got a lot of football left. We’ve got eight (games) left. We’ve got Buffalo this week and looking forward to that challenge.”

It was a hectic week inside the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center after Flacco was named the starter over second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson.

The fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Richardson was 5-5 as a starter before being benched after a 23-20 loss at the Houston Texans.

Steichen said at the time he believes Flacco gives the team a better chance to win, and he wants Richardson to grow away from the weekly pressure of starting.

The early result was not what the team was looking for, but the players don’t have time – or interest – to spend second-guessing the move.

“Keep my head down, do my business,” tight end Kylen Granson said. “I leave those decisions to the powers that be, and I just come in. Whoever’s dishing it out doesn’t really matter to me. We’re all just trying to win. So whatever the personnel changes are, they are what they are. We just try to roll with the punches.”

One area the Colts could target for improvement this week is third-down conversions.

Indianapolis was just 3-for-11 on third down against Minnesota, contributing to a more than 13-minute deficit in time of possession.

“I think it’s everything, and I don’t think it’s one thing … but that is an area that we must improve on, for sure,” Steichen said. “I think we had three or two conversions yesterday, some third-down situations that we’ve got to convert on. You go back and look at all those things. I think we were pretty good early on in the year, and it’s kind of taking a drop there. So we’ve got to get that back on track.”

Steichen added there is no panic in the locker room.

The Colts lost an opportunity to trim a two-game deficit behind the Texans in the AFC South, and they lost ground in the wild-card chase.

But Steichen believes there’s plenty of time to turn things around, and he has the right guys on hand to do it.

“I’ve got a ton of faith in the guys in that locker room,” he said. “There’s never any quit in any of these guys. You can see it. As bad as it was yesterday, and the way it went, our guys fought all the way till the end. There’s five minutes left, and it’s 10-14, and we’re still right in it. So our guys that we got in that locker room, I’ve got a lot of faith and trust in those guys moving forward.”

KICKOFF CHANGE

After being flexed into prime time for the loss against the Vikings, the Colts on Monday were flexed out of a Nov. 17 “Sunday Night Football” appearance against the New York Jets.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Chargers were flexed into the prime-time slot.

The Colts and Jets will play at 1 p.m. on CBS.