Anthony Richardson’s return was exactly what he and the Colts should’ve hoped for

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In the second quarter Sunday, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson prepared to run a play just 2 yards away from the New York Jets’ end zone.

Wide receiver Ashton Dulin trotted across the formation in motion and at the snap of the ball, Richardson faked a handoff to Dulin before reversing field. As soon as he took off, defensive end Michael Clemons was in Richardson’s face trying to bring him down, only to be met with a righteous stiff arm that left him grasping the air in pursuit.

As Richardson turned his shoulders to the end zone, the only thing blocking his first rushing touchdown since Week 1 was safety Jalen Mills — a small hurdle for the 245-pound quarterback.

One touchdown turned into three before the end of the day as Richardson’s return to the starting lineup resulted in a 28-27 victory over the Jets and arguably his best game as a professional quarterback.

Two weeks of sitting behind Joe Flacco may have been the reset that Richardson needed even as the Colts continued to struggle and spin in circles in the two weeks he was out. Week 11 saw a calm, cool, collected version of Richardson, or as he said himself, relaxed.

“It felt good,” Richardson said with a hint of relief. “Today, I was taking it one play at a time. I wasn’t even thinking about the past two weeks. I’m just thinking about where I am now. I was in MetLife Stadium today, so that’s where I try to keep my mindset.”

Richardson admitted that getting benched was beneficial, even if it wasn’t the way he wanted this season to start.

“It kind of just let me relax a little bit, although I didn’t necessarily want to relax too, too much, but it just allowed me to take a step back and clean up some things that I have to clean up,” Richardson said. “That was really my focus, when I did get the opportunity again, making sure that I was at the best of my ability, and I was doing the right thing for the team.”

For the first time this season, Richardson finished the game with more than a 60% completion rate. He was accurate and on time to every level of the field on Sunday. He had a couple fumbles, with one being recovered by the Jets, but on the whole this was the cleanest Richardson has looked in a long time — like a legitimate franchise-altering quarterback.

According to TruMedia, Richardson had his highest success rate on dropbacks of the season at 46.9%, which is essentially in the tier of the great to elite quarterbacks. A momentary pause on his career didn’t mean a resurgence was impossible, and he achieved that goal within the first game of his comeback.

“I don’t know if there is any reward to me, but I just hope my teammates see that I’m willing to do anything for them,” Richardson said. “I’m willing to put my body on the line to go sacrifice anything on the field for them.

“But I definitely appreciate them for just trusting me and believing in me throughout the whole process, regardless of what we had going on. Shoutout to coach, I just appreciate all of the support.”

Colts head coach Shane Steichen was upbeat after the game after watching his cyborg of a quarterback play like the create-a-player they were envisioning when the Colts took him with the fourth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Steichen also noted that having Richardson back made the Colts’ run game more dangerous, even though star running back Jonathan Taylor had only 57 yards on 24 carries. Both of Richardson’s rushing touchdowns came within 5 yards of the end zone, which is an element they’ve been missing over the past couple weeks.

“When you have a quarterback that can run, obviously that balances out the run game when you have two guys back there,” Steichen said. “Obviously, he did a hell of a job doing it. That touchdown at the end on the QB keep-around the edge was key too.”

One of Richardson’s more incredible plays of the game that showed what makes him different was an incomplete pass that landed out of bounds on a throwaway. Richardson was deep in the backfield as a Jets defender tried to get him to the ground, but he couldn’t. Richardson was fully in the grasp of a fellow NFL player yet continued to scan the field and drift toward the sideline until he decided to throw the ball away.

For 99% of quarterbacks, it would’ve been a laughable lowlight. For someone of Richardson’s physical stature, he was able to survive it.

“He had a few that where the guy was hanging on him and he got away,” Steichen said. “So, it’s like, ‘Throw it away.’ Oh, he’s hanging onto the ball, it’s like, ‘Throw it! Throw it!’ And he got it off, which just goes to show you the strength that he has.”

That is the talent the Colts are banking on to stabilize the franchise for the first time since Andrew Luck’s abrupt retirement in 2018. It has been a tumultuous ride for the Colts and Richardson for the past few weeks, but it appears that this trip to East Rutherford was the antidote for the symptoms that got them to this point. Richardson was accurate, decisive and made several big plays through the air that showed that his potential is really limitless.

In Richardson’s 11th career start, he made the case for many more starts and is pointed back in the direction of being the Colts’ long-term starter. That’s good for Richardson, the Colts and the league at large. When he’s at his best, there aren’t many entities in the sport who have the same amount of horsepower.