Colts' Anthony Richardson Assigns Blame for Loss vs. Texans

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson had some interesting answers when discussing his performance against the Houston Texans.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) is consulted by linebacker Cameron McGrone (59) after being sacked by the Houston Texans in the second half at NRG Stadium. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Indianapolis Colts had a golden opportunity to establish themselves as true threats in the AFC South yesterday against the Houston Texans.

The Texans were coming off a brutal loss to the Green Bay Packers and banged up on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, the Colts were coming off a win over the Miami Dolphins, and Jonathan Taylor and DeForest Buckner returned from injury.

Taylor was his normal electric self, rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown. Buckner and the defense did their job, limiting the Texans' run game for most of the day and pressuring C.J. Stroud throughout the contest. But the Colts came up short, falling to the Texans 23-20 to give Houston the season sweep, the tiebreaker, and a two-game lead in the division.

And look no further than Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen as the catalysts for the disappointing loss.

“I mean, it hurts," Richardson said after the game. "You don't want to lose, especially not in the division, not in this league, you don't want to lose. It definitely hurts taking those L's. But you learn from them. It's nothing but a lesson. We know what we've got to clean up. Execution has got to be top tier for us. We've just got to play better.”

As is usually the case with Richardson, the box score does not tell the whole story. Richardson finished 10-of-32 (31%) for 175 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He also ran for 45 yards on six carries.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) at the line of scrimmage during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Richardson started the game playing fairly well despite numerous incompletions. The quarterback delivered the football on target to his receivers but drops and a failure to keep two feet inbounds forced Richardson into a 1-of-5 start.

But from the jump, Steichen was dialing up shots for his big-armed quarterback. Richardson tested the Texans' defense deep multiple times throughout the first half. Outside of a 69-yard touchdown to a wide-open Josh Downs on the third drive of the game, most of the shots were unsuccessful.

“There was opportunities," Richardson elaborated. "We knew they were going to try to take away some of the deep shots, but they played us in. We liked our match-up, we like our receivers to get open, we've just got to execute at the end of the day.”

After last week's unimpressive performance by Richardson on the field and Steichen as the play-caller, many thought the Colts would lean into a different passing attack focused on quick throws to get Richardson into a rhythm and keep the offense efficient. But the Colts continued to look for the big play, leading to incompletions and third-and-longs.

Because they failed to execute the shot plays, Richardson became frustrated and began to press. His throws became less accurate, and his decision-making worse as the Texans ratcheted up the pressure. It culminated in a terrible decision to end the first half, as Richardson telegraphed a throw to Downs that was intercepted by Jalen Pitre deep in Colts territory. Stroud found Tank Dell for a touchdown on the very next play.

"We were looking for a certain look right there, and they didn't really give us that look," Richardson explained. "So I killed the play, I checked it, and they just played good zone right there, so he was pretty much my only target right there. I thought I was able to fit it in there, but the nickel did a great job of jumping under it, so got to give some props to him.”

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Coming out of the half, the Colts looked much better as they switched up their plan of attack. Indy was leaning on Taylor and the run game while calling quicker throws for Richardson to get easy completions.

But on the second drive of the second half, another puzzling thing happened. After two consecutive plays that saw Richardson scramble in the backfield to evade pressure as he tried to make something out of nothing, Richardson subbed himself out on third-and-goal. Many thought he may have gotten hurt on the tackle, but it was for a different issue entirely.

“I was tired. I ain't going to lie," Richardson stated. "That was a lot of running right there that I did, and I didn't think I was going to be able to do that next play."

It is hard to remember a quarterback calling to be subbed out of the game because he is tired. The third-down play ended up being a handoff to Taylor, so Richardson would not have been involved in the play anyway. But that is beside the point.

Richardson subbing himself out of the game is incredibly bad optics for a quarterback who has struggled all season and is already facing criticism for staying on the field. With teammates like Taylor, Buckner, Downs, Michael Pittman Jr., and Braden Smith battling through injuries to go out and play each week, Richardson cannot call to be subbed just because he is tried. While the impact on the game was minimal, the message it sends is terrible.

Richardson did return to the game after subbing himself out and settled down in the second half. The Colts were able to close to within three, but it was not enough as the pass rush continually got to Richardson, sacking the quarterback five times on the day. The Colts had a chance to win the game on the final drive, but poor clock management by Steichen and Richardson sealed the Colts' fate.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) is hit by Houston Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter (55) in the second half at NRG Stadium. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

It was another week of inconsistent play from the quarterback and bad play-calling by the head coach. It is alarming that Richardson and Steichen have regressed in Year 2, making fans even more anxious about the future of this team.

"It's my job to find ways to do that," Steichen said about improving Richardson's consistency. "I've got to be better in that regard going forward to get him going.”

"I definitely could have played better today," Richardson admitted. "I definitely could have delivered the ball better. I definitely could have made some better checks. I could have played better. I definitely understand that. ... I'm just steadily trying to grow and just keep getting better.”

While Richardson and Steichen deserve most of the blame for the loss, they were not the only Colts on offense that did not perform up to their standards. Outside of Taylor and Downs, Richardson did not receive much help from the rest of the offense. Drops were prevalent all game while the offensive line was manhandled by the Texans' pass rush. Also, do the Colts have any competent tight ends on the roster?

The loss only counts as one in the grand scheme of things, but the loss feels much more damning. Richardson continues to struggle to show progress. Steichen continues to put his young, developing quarterback in tough situations. And although the season is just at the halfway mark, the Colts' playoff chances seem to be slipping away.

“We've just got to just keep working through it," Steichen remarked. "(Richardson's) got a good work ethic. He grinds through these things. It's a process. We do it together. This thing is together. This isn’t about one guy. This is about the team, and it's always going to be about the team.”

The team is looking for answers from their head coach and quarterback, and what they are getting is a lot of disappointment. After a while, people will get "tired" of the excuses and need to see actual results. Otherwise, the experiment may need to end sooner than anyone wanted.

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