5 Things Learned: Anthony Richardson Shines In Win Over Jets

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INDIANAPOLIS – Welcome back, Anthony Richardson.

In Richardson’s finest hour as a pro, the Colts needed it to beat the Jets, 28-27.

Here is what we learned from the Colts ending their 3-game losing streak.

1. Anthony Richardson’s Biggest Moment

Anthony Richardson’s Biggest Moment: Down by 5 points, with 2:43 on the clock Sunday, Anthony Richardson walked onto the MetLife Stadium turf getting an unscripted opportunity teams dream of for your young quarterback. On the road, in a game the Colts defense was wilting, they needed their rookie to deliver. And Richardson, did with his arm and legs. The big throws came on a touch-ish toss to Alec Pierce, who executed a well-called pump and go, for 39 yards. Following the two-minute warning, Richardson then had a little more frozen rope on a seam throw to Josh Downs for 17 yards. The Colts were set up with a goal-to-go situation from there, and it was Richardson’s legs doing it on 3^rd-and-Goal for the eventual game-winning touchdown. What a moment for Richardson to deliver for his football team, and he did exactly that. These chances are exactly why you play the kid. He needs to experience these situations. Unlike the Houston game last time Richardson played, the 22-year-old quarterback delivered to keep the Colts season from going totally off the tracks. Also, even though the Colts didn’t use a kicker on this drive, how about some credit to Matt Gay on Sunday. In a season in which Gay has not lived up to the big contract he carries, the veteran kicker was huge in a 1-point win, making all of his 3 field goals attempts from 41, 47 and 56 yards.

2. Different Offensive Approach

Different Offensive Approach: When Anthony Richardson was drafted, the thought was the Colts had an immediate dynamic element to their offense in his QB running ability combined with Jonathan Taylor. Well, the Colts had a specific focus to heavily lean on their No. 5/No. 28 duo from the start on Sunday. It was easily the most committed we’ve seen the Colts in this area in any of Richardson’s 11 starts. The plan led to nice first-half production and the best flow that unit has been in quite a while. Honestly, this was an offensive game plan we saw quite often at Grand Park. It wasn’t perfect against the Jets, and offensive line issues hurt this unit probably the most we’ve seen in 2024, but Steichen definitely committed to much more of a leg-focus game plan from his dual-threat quarterback. Is this what we are going to see moving forward from No. 5?

3. Anthony Richardson’s Finest NFL Outing

Anthony Richardson’s Finest NFL Outing: Thanks to a different, more concentrated run-heavy focused game plan (more on that below), Anthony Richardson looked much more comfortable on Sunday than he has in virtually all of his other starts. The Colts were committed to using Richardson’s legs early, and the young quarterback also did his part with a couple key third-down tosses in building a two-score lead. Richardson finished the first half 8-of-12, a 75 percent rate he has hardly ever sniffed in a 30-minute stretch. The final stat line from Richardson was this: 20-of-30 (66.6%) for 272 yards, 3 total touchdowns, and 32 yards rushing on 10 carries. He overcome a huge third-quarter fumble and did this while playing with an offensive line starting 3 rookies. It should be noted, too, with the Colts down 8 in Sunday’s 4^th quarter, Richardson had arguably his best pure throwing drive of his NFL life. That’s a drive he, and the Colts, can circle in believing something more can be there as a passer. Down 8 in the 4th quarter, Richardson led a 70-yard touchdown drive. Down 5 in the 4th quarter, Richardson led another 70-yard touchdown drive. That’s a player stepping up in the biggest moment of the game. This was just Richardson’s 4^th NFL road start, and 2^nd ever outdoors. It was his 11^th career start out of a possible 28 NFL games. All of that needs to be remembered when we are talking about Richardson back playing football again. He needs these reps. So this return to a commitment of his on-field development is very important. Not to mention this was his best NFL game.

4. Defense Starts Fast, Wilts, Finishes

Defense Starts Fast, Wilts, Finishes: The Jets are not good and the Colts defense made sure they looked like that on Sunday. Huge credit to Gus Bradley’s bunch for the sticky and stingy nature they brought to the start of Sunday’s game. It took the Jets more than 28 minutes to record one first down on Sunday. That’s remarkable. And the Colts helped contribute to that with strong defensive line playmaking and sound tackling. For the first time in a while, the Colts played complementary football from the start (including a couple Matt Gay field goals from north of 40 yards), in building a 13-0 lead and creating more and more boo birds from the MetLife faithful. But that fast start didn’t last at all. The Jets rattled off scores on 5 of their next 6 drives, scoring 27 points, the most they have all season long. This 180, flipped again at the end of the game with the Colts defensive line dialing up some big pressure to close out a wild one. It was a very mixed bag from Bradley’s defense on Sunday, and that group will get quite the test in Week 12 with the Lions coming to town next week.

5. Breaking Point Win

Breaking Point Win: This one was really, really needed. Any win after a 3-game losing streak is obviously important, but this one means more given it’s a conference game against a team in the same Wild Card hope pool. If the Jets get on a run to end the year, the Colts can now add them to the head-to-head tiebreakers they have in the AFC (Steelers, Dolphins, Jets). Before the Buffalo game, I said a 5-3 finish to the season, with wins over the Jets and Broncos, creates a potential playoff path. Well, the Colts have started that 1-1, with the important win over the Jets. Obviously, any serious playoff talk is going to take stretches, and not a random Sunday performance against a lowly team with an interim coach. But this was absolutely needed to get on the right side of a breaking point in the season, where another loss would have brought more and more Mock Draft looks.

6. QUICK HITTERS

-Injury Report: The following Colts were INACTIVE on Sunday: LT-Bernhard Raimann (knee), DE-Genard Avery, WR-Anthony Gould, S-Darren Hall, OL-Josh Sills, TE-Will Mallory. These Colts got hurt on Sunday and did not return:

-Key Stat: Anthony Richardson threw for a career-high 66.6 percent completion percentage, going 20-of-30.

-What’s Next: The Colts (5-6) will return home in Week 12, welcoming Dan Campbell and the Lions (9-1) for a 1:00 PM kickoff on Sunday. This will be the only game for the Colts until December 22^nd.