NFL
By: Rick
If you look back at the 2024 season for the Indianapolis Colts, the best way to describe it is, they came up short. While there is plenty of blame to go around in this team sport, the one person you can say who has to make a drastic improvement for them to be contenders, is QB Anthony Richardson.
As a fan, you’re entitled to defend his development and his play. He has had some high points as well as some low. However, the balance is roughly 50/50 and he needs to get better as a player and leader of this team. Even if you take out the fact that he took himself out of the game because he was tired, you have to understand the criticism of his play and why the Colts might want to have a backup plan as their franchise QB going forward.
If you take into account the entire team, statistically they weren’t that bad. Jonathan Taylor led all Colts running backs with 1400+ yards when there were teams in the NFL who didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher and he had 11 touchdowns. True, Indianapolis didn’t have a 1,000-yard receiver but their pass catchers were productive as 3 of them were over 800 yards, Alec Pierce, Michael Pittman Jr., and Josh Downs. They could’ve used a bit more productivity out of their tight ends as their top TE only had 182 yards but with WRs that productive you will get less out of that position.
Then, you have to take into account the passing game overall. Richardson dropped back to pass 264 times and was sacked just 14 times (5% or 1 out of 20 dropbacks). He threw 12 interceptions to just 8 touchdowns. He completed 126 passes on those same 264 attempts for only 47%. For a quarterback to have that few sacks and be that far off on timing comes down to one thing and one thing alone: decision-making.
For comparison, veteran Joe Flacco with the same lineup, came in and had a 65% completion percentage. He had 16 fewer passes but 4 more touchdowns and 5 fewer interceptions and threw for 100 yards less despite playing in 3 fewer games.
So you have to wonder, is Anthony Richardson under-coached? Is he not making the adjustments in real time? Or is there part of the game he’s just not picking up? For the Indianapolis Colts to be that close to the playoffs and them to get that much production out of their skill positions, it all falls on Richardson to take the next step. It’s not as if defenders were in his face on every play or he would’ve taken way more sacks. He’s got to put his head down, put in the work on film day, and go out and make the adjustments. If not, the Colts have to start thinking of their next franchise QB sooner rather than later.
