Colts' Anthony Richardson Displaying Clutch Ability
The Indianapolis Colts saw a breakout performance from quarterback Anthony Richardson against the New York Jets after getting benched for two weeks for veteran Joe Flacco. While Richardson's entire game needs to be praised given the situation and story surrounding the young field general heading into week 11, his fourth-quarter performance is the focus of this analysis. Pro Football Focus shared the metrics on X.
Richardson finished the game 20/30 for 272 passing yards, 1 touchdown (Josh Downs), and no interceptions. He also tacked on 10 rushes for 32 yards and another 2 scores, including the go-ahead play with less than a minute in the fourth quarter, good for 3 all-purpose touchdowns.
Richardson did have 2 fumbles (1 lost), so there's still plenty of room for improvement from the former Florida Gator before anyone can name him a franchise quarterback. Richardson handled the pressure of getting benched for Flacco well, showing that quality most in the fourth quarter. Richardson dealt 8/10 completions (80%) for 129 passing yards and 2 all-purpose scores (1 passing and rushing), showing he can overcome obstacles in the infancy of his NFL career. While there needs to be a level of brakes applied to Richardson's hype train after this victory, it's incredibly encouraging to see the QB deal with so much adversity to deliver a clutch performance like this.
There's still so much potential to be had with Richardson, and week 11 against New York was a taste of what that looks like when it's going great. Fans and coaches have already seen Richardson's worst, so to answer back with a win to stay in the playoff hunt is a career moment. However, things get far more difficult with the Detroit Lions next on the schedule at Lucas Oil Stadium. We'll see if Richardson must rely on fourth-quarter heroics again for an improbable win.
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