It's Not Time To Panic About Anthony Richardson

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Say it with me, “Young quarterbacks take time and patience.”

A version of this mantra is, likely, being repeated by Shane Steichen and the Indianapolis Colts staff as Week 3 comes to a close around the NFL. The Colts snuck out a victory over the Chicago Bears 21-16 in what was a struggle for both young quarterbacks. The passing attack for the Colts was ugly and was challenged by a good Bears defense. While the Colts ran for 150 yards on Sunday, in Steichen’s own words “...Let’s be real now, we got a lot of stuff to clean up.”

To put it lightly, Anthony Richardson’s start to 2024 has been a mixed bag. He’s 36-of-73 for 583 yards, three touchdowns, and six interceptions. You don’t have to be an NFL stats or film nerd to know that’s not good. He’s completing just under 50% of his pass attempts while leading the league in Average Intended Air Yards (AIAY), via Next Gen Stats, with 12.6 air yards. Being one of the most aggressive downfield quarterbacks plays to Richardson’s strengths, but we’ve seen the young quarterback struggle and he knows he has to be better.

So, what do we know about Richardson the quarterback? When he suits up against the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday, it’ll be his eighth NFL start at 22 years old. He’s young, inexperienced, and extremely talented. Talent alone isn’t enough in the NFL and he was reminded again against the Bears. The game is much faster than in college and when you turn on Richardson’s game from Sunday, he was rushed. That creates unnecessary fundamental issues in footwork and throwing mechanics that can result in plays like this. 

The Colts get the look they want with Michael Pittman Jr. on the backside out route underneath the Alec Pierce clear-out. They line up in Pistol and run a play-action pass with bootleg action to move the defense and get Richardson on the move. As he’s going through his reads, he avoids the pressure by stepping up and tries to hit Pittman across the formation, but he rushes the throw, doesn’t set his feet, and overshoots Pittman right into the hands of the defender. It’s the right process and decision, but the execution creates a negative result.

It would have been a tough throw layering it between the underneath linebacker and overhang corner, but it’s a throw Richardson is trusted to make and has made before. Sometimes keeping your base and making smaller moves to avoid pressure when stepping up in the pocket can help quarterbacks maintain that base for when they throw the football. Setting his feet before attempting that throw creates a better chance at a completion. Timing is one of the most important aspects of football with how fast the game moves, not just with mechanics and fundamentals but play structure too.

This play made its way around social media quickly after the missed third-down throw, but it all comes down to timing. They motion Josh Downs across the formation to create a pick on the defender for an easy first-down throw to Downs. That’s exactly what they get. Pierce clears out upfield, opening the flat for Downs, but Richardson expects Downs out of his break a half-second quicker. He clutches the ball, which throws off his internal timing and makes him throw flat-footed. What should have been an easy first down turns into a punt.

We should note, that this was Downs’ first game back from injury, and getting his timing down with Richardson will come with more reps, but that’s a missed layup. Drive-enders like that leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and those little details are often the difference between wins and losses. 

Richardson has a Goonies-like mentality playing the position; he never says “die.” Sometimes, you have to know when to take the points and when a play is dead. This one never had a chance and instead of throwing it away and kicking the field goal, he tries to throw it to the back of the end zone where three Bears defenders are waiting, but the pass is deflected by the defender applying pressure to Richardson. It’s batted into the air and the Bears come away with the interception. Turning the football over is never the desired outcome, but in the red zone, it can’t happen.

All this being said, these points are coachable for Richardson and he can learn from these mistakes. Playing these games is foundationally important for his development as a quarterback, but I think the process he’s using to get to most of his decisions is sound. Steichen is doing a great job dialing up plays that put defenders in conflict, allowing Richardson to make sound decisions and take advantage of his arm.

The Bears have staggered safeties pre-snap and rotate to a cover three shell post-snap. The Colts run Pierce on a “go” route down the left sideline and Downs on a deep post down the left seam. With both receivers running deep vertical stems, the safety has to choose where to go. Downs’ route forces the safety to stay square and gives Richardson a one-on-one down the sideline. The protection is good, Richardson checks the safety first, then Pierce pulls away from his defender and Richardson puts it right on him for a huge play. 

Getting to the right read hasn’t been the difficult part for Richardson, just the execution, but we have evidence to show that he can operate the quick game with good timing and accuracy. He identifies where to go with the ball pre-snap, checks the safety rotation as he drops back, and when he gets to the top of his drop, he fires this to Pittman out of his break to keep them ahead of the sticks on second down. If he can consistently make this type of throw with anticipation and timing, the Colts’ offense will quickly start to turn around. They run the ball well and can hit the deep ball, so you know Steichen can make that play-action game sing.

It can be that easy for Richardson and the Colts' offense to move the football, but getting the timing right every down, making the right decisions with the football, and playing with sound fundamentals will streamline that process. Richardson is a second-year NFL quarterback, but he’s also a rookie making rookie mistakes and learning from them. His game wasn’t as bad as the box score, and that’s why there’s no need to panic about Richardson… yet. If December comes around and many of the same mistakes are happening and there’s no improvement, then there’s a conversation to be had.

Until then, heed these words from Aaron Rodgers before tearing down Anthony Richardson, “R-E-L-A-X.”