rear indianapolis coltsQB Anthony Richardson was benched in place of Joe Flacco two weeks ago, and many wondered what his future would be in the NFL. I listed several reasons why he seemed to regress in his last game before being benched, but most of all I thought this player was playing too forcefully and too tightly. That's understandable for a player who hasn't even started a full season. Just because he was tired and made a stew, add that on top of making yourself weak.
Richardson won back the starting job and looked like the player we were all promised to be on Sunday. His stat line of 20-of-30 for 272 yards and 3 total touchdowns in the win is nothing to sneeze at (despite being the Jets), but what was most impressive to me was his He looked relaxed. He seemed to play with much more control and nerve, and you could see the explosive play he had in the Colts' 28-27 win over the Jets. Let's go to the film room and see how he shot it.
I think the first thing that stood out to me was the Colts' use of play action. Of Richardson's 32 dropbacks against the Colts, 17 were play-action. The 53% play-action rate is the highest Richardson has used in a game to start or end this season (he used play-action on 3 out of 4 vs. dropbacks). steelersHowever, he was unable to finish that match due to injury. On 17 dropbacks against the Jets, Richardson went 9-of-15 for 100 yards, creating chunk plays without a super high-level QB. I'm confused as to why the Colts didn't go with this plan with Richardson sooner. That's because Richardson's run game with running back Jonathan Taylor is extremely powerful and dynamic.
Watch the linebacker come all the way up on the run fake and leave this deep over window wide open. This is an easy offense for Richardson and should be the centerpiece of the Colts' offense.
Once again, a similar play off with a run fake where the linebackers open up an opportunity for the over. The opposing receiver clears the safety, leaving Richardson with an easy throw. Please tell me more and thank you!
Richardson also added eight carries with designed runs. We'll talk about this a little later. These eight carry-on design QB runs are the most in a single game this season, and the Colts should continue to add to their arsenal.
Now, let's move on to the good stuff. As mentioned above, the process leading up to Richardson being benched wasn't bad, but he played too fast and his accuracy would be thrown off. Against the Jets, he made some really high-level throws and it felt like we were seeing what Richardson could be as a passer.
One of my favorites was this high-low concept he worked on for 20 yards. So let's set the stage here. To Richardson's left is WR Alec Pearce and TE Mo Allie-Cox. Jonathan Taylor is also on the left side of the backfield. It looks like WRs Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs are lined up on his right side. The Jets are playing with increased intensity by rotating Cover 3 (left side of the formation: more receiving threat on the other side). Richardson sees at the snap that it's a Cover 3 and immediately goes to work on this high-low. He wants to dig in to Pittman, but he has to move the linebacker. Watch him nudge his shoulders, get the ball out of his hands and commit to the LB, then fire the ball behind him. It's #realhoopin by Anthony Richardson.
On Richardson's game-winning drive, he was simply an incendiary presence, lighting up the Jets with his great process and execution all over the field. The 39-yard completion to Pierce was a great job by Richardson, fooling cornerback Sauce Gardner.
The Jets spoke to Palms about this play. Palms is a complement to Quarters, where the outside corner (in this case Gardner) is reading the route distribution. If the second receiver goes out in the flat within 5 yards, Gardner takes him. This is designed to target teams that assume their second receiver will have an impact on out routes against nickel. Richardson saw Gardner with his hips turned to the sideline, understood he was reading the route distribution, and gave a quick pump fake on the out route. This bought him enough time to hit Pierce from the sideline with a howitzer, beating Gardner and a safety for the big play.
On the very next play, Richardson beat the Jets with a seam rip to Downs for quarter coverage. Watch as Richardson looks forward to this pitch and lets it fly before Downs turns around. It was an incredibly impressive pitch considering the circumstances of the game.
He then finishes the drive doing his best steamroller impression and puts CB DJ Reed on the highlight tape. It was a crazy end to the game for Richardson, and one that probably felt good after everything he had been through. The Colts had been attacking the Jets with their pimple QB runs throughout the game, and now they finally broke through.
Yes, this is one match. That's why I'm not outright declaring that Richardson coming back saved the Colts' season. However, he showed some bright signs of growth, mostly noticeable in how much the game seemed to slow down for him. He didn't speed up, his footwork felt cleaner, and he was incredibly confident with each of his throws. There were some warts (there were some mistakes in short area accuracy), but I didn't talk about this banana play he made under pressure.
Seeing how Richardson develops from week to week will be one of my favorite things to watch closely as the season progresses. It will be interesting to see how he continues to slow the game down for himself and could be a reason for even more excitement in 2025.
