Broncos OLB Jonathon Cooper Pinpoints Glaring Anthony Richardson Flaw

The Denver Broncos will work to exploit this weakness with gusto vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

Nov 24, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson has already been benched this season. Ironically, it was former Denver Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco who took over for Richardson for a time.

Since the big-armed Richardson got the starting job back, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing. He's already committed 12 turnovers in nine starts. Richardson has passed for 1,511 yards and seven touchdowns, with 400-plus rushing yards and four additional scores on the ground, but he's thrown nine interceptions and has fumbled a whopping nine times.

The Colts have been fortunate to recover six of them. That's a big reason why Richardson is 5-4 as a starer this year.

Standing at 6-7, the Colts are still in the playoff mix, and they're also standing on the precipice of falling away from competitive relevancy. Broncos rush linebacker Jonathon Cooper is well aware that with his chronic ball-security issues, Richardson might be exploited on Sunday.

"Our main attempt is the ball for sure," Cooper said via Chris Tomasson of The Denver Gazette on Friday. "Whenever you play a guy like that, you just got to make him feel uncomfortable and put pressure on him and make sure that you get those turnovers. They're huge to winning games and we know that, and that's where our focus is."

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On paper, Richardson vs. Bo Nix looks like an advantage to the Broncos, especially given their current form and ongoing overall development as young passers. Nevertheless, Richardson still carries the same wildcard dynamics of Jameis Winston, and the Cleveland Browns' maverick very nearly took the Broncos down on Monday Night Football prior to the bye.

Indeed, Broncos head coach Sean Payton is on high alert because Richardson is a load to bring down on designed runs. Payton even sees a little of what Taysom Hill provides for the New Orleans Saints in how Colts head coach Shane Steichen is using Richardson.

"It brings a lot of challenges," Payton said this week. "You kind of get your 11th man back. There are zone schemes, there are gap schemes, there's a number of things that can stress you. We had the benefit of that a little bit with Taysom Hill the same way. He's got great arm strength down the field. A big part of their run game—is both he and the halfback. So it presents a completely type different challenge than weeks prior."

The news that Broncos starting cornerback Riley Moss will miss Sunday's action is bound to have reached Steichen as he game-plans for Week 15. As unfortunate as it was to lose such a key piece on defense, at least Moss will return to the fray fairly soon.

In the meantime, Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach echoed the importance of making up for Moss' absence by playing total team defense rather stoically.

"We can't wait to get Riley back, but at the end of the day, it's a team for a reason," Roach said via Tomasson. "We got to come out and do our job, and, hopefully, there's no drop-off." 

The Broncos might tweak their personnel to avoid another potential shredding of cornerback Levi Wallace, but Cooper feels the bye week came at a good time for everyone to clean things up, including on the backend.

"I feel like the bye was well needed for everybody to get that rest and then to regroup and to figure out what the issues were and just cleaning up on the back end," Cooper said via Tomasson. "I feel confident in everybody being ready and not letting that one performance just dictate how things are going to go. We know we can't give up that many yards or that many points, so we're getting back to the details and homing in on them."

Creating as much chaos and disruption in the opposing backfield has been the dominant tone of the Denver defense this year, so expect another similar showing vs. the Colts.

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