Anthony Richardson Shows It All In Season Opener

Source: Justin Casterline / Getty

INDIANAPOLIS – Anthony Richardson showed it all in his 2024 season opener.

Yes, there were plenty of reasons for Colts fans to be beyond excited by the home run ability of Richardson, but there was the other side of a passing game lacking much consistency.

And we shouldn’t go much further without stating Richardson started and finished an NFL game on Sunday.

That can’t be taken for granted.

Some 11 months removed from his rookie season ending, after injuries led to him starting and finishing just 1 of 4 games played last year, Richardson was the Colts quarterback for all 45 offensive snaps in Week 1.

For everyone’s sake, hopefully there comes a time in Richardson’s career where feeling the need to mention his availability isn’t needed. But it is right now.

Onto Richardson’s 2024 debut though, and he was an explosive playmaker at the quarterback position, completing 9-of-19 balls for 212 yards (2 touchdowns and 1 interception), adding 56 rushing yards on 6 carries (4 designed runs).

Simply, Richardson provided the Colts a big-play element they haven’t seen at quarterback in years.

Richardson completed 3 passes on Sunday of more than 50 yards, with one of the most impressive throws you’ll ever see in an in-stride touchdown heave to Alec Pierce, following a slip in the pocket of No. 5.

“I thought he made some big-time plays for us,” Shane Steichen said after the 2024 debut for Richardson. “Obviously, that opening touchdown pass to Alec, I don’t think I’ve seen a throw like that.

“That’s just physical ability, launching that ball down the field. There’s not many guys that can do that.”

To put that number of successful bombs into perspective, here’s how many 50-yard pass plays Colts quarterbacks have had in years past:

• Gardner Minshew (2023): 5 plays
• Matt Ryan (2022): 0 plays
• Carson Wentz (2021): 5 plays
• Philip Rivers (2020: 2 plays
• Jacoby Brissett (2019): 1 play
• Andrew Luck (2018): 4 plays

Again, Richardson produced 3 such plays in the first game of the season.

Now that Richardson has turned these hypotheticals into actual film evidence, how defenses are going to defend the Colts will certainly be something to watch.

On the other end of Richardson “showing it all” in Week 1, was his inaccuracy.

In completing just 47 percent of his passes, that marked the 4 ^th lowest completion percentage for a Colts starting quarterback since Andrew Luck retired in 2019. The 10 incompletions in 19 attempts didn’t come from drops either, and the Texans got their hands on more than a third of Richardson’s passes.

Completion percentage isn’t gospel when defining a quarterback’s success, but that ratio of inaccuracy is hard to survive.

To continue the baseball analogy, the Colts need Richardson to hit a few more “singles.” By doing so, the Colts wouldn’t have as much of a feast or famine result from their offense that we saw in Week 1.

A pending return of Josh Downs, potentially as early as Sunday, should help in this very area, which is needed as the Colts tight ends combined for 0 catches and just 2 targets in the opener.

Minutes after Richardson’s highlight filled debut came to a close, Shane Steichen was asked about what is next from the young quarterback.

“Just consistency,” the head coach said of Richardson. “Just each week, that’s what we’re looking for. Consistency week in and week out, getting better as we keep going through this thing for sure.”

Sunday brought the entire Richardson experience.

Big plays you’ve never seen, and explosive playmaking that will undoubtedly cause stress for opposing defensive coordinators.

But, also, some puzzling misses that kept the Colts away from having an even bigger day offensively.

Creating such chunk plays are what makes Richardson such a tantalizing player. Now it’s about cleaning up some of the more mundane elements to playing the most important position in sports.

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