Colts ask too much of QB Anthony Richardson in sloppy loss to Lions

INDIANAPOLIS — The throw was perfect. The protection and route were, too.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson delivered a strike across the middle to tight end Drew Ogletree. It should have been an easy 11-yard touchdown that gave the Colts an early second-quarter lead over the juggernaut Detroit Lions. Instead, it was a lowlight amid the Colts’ calamitous 24-6 loss Sunday at Lucas Oil Field.

Ogletree dropped the pass, then placed two hands on hips before raising one of them as if to say, “That’s my fault.” Fellow tight end Mo Alie-Cox, who was on the field as the play unfolded, placed two hands on his head in disbelief. Richardson simply grimaced as he tried to keep his composure.

Trailing 7-3 against the No. 1 offense in the NFL, that was a mistake Indianapolis couldn’t afford.

“He dropped the ball, but so what?” Richardson asked rhetorically after the game as he refused to point the finger. “I don’t throw great passes all of the time, so it is what it is. We’re gonna get the next one.”

#Colts Week 12 recap:

• Anthony Richardson was better than the box score
• AR refused to point the finger
• Season-high 10 penalties
• Defense gave Indy a chance
• Fourth loss in five games

More coming to @TheAthleticNFL —> https://t.co/3nZbzqpdb1 pic.twitter.com/w4Gbhp8lR6

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) November 24, 2024

The next one will have to wait until next week since Indianapolis never recovered from that second-down drop. The Colts settled for a 29-yard field goal by Matt Gay two plays later; those were their final points of the game.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with miscues, the kind that separates good teams from bad teams, and right now, the Colts look like a bad team. They committed 10 penalties, which was a season-high and their second-most in a single game over the past five years. Left guard Quenton Nelson, a four-time All-Pro and already considered one of the best offensive linemen in team history, was the main culprit. Nelson was flagged for three penalties: one for being an ineligible man downfield, another for illegal hands to the face and another for a false start.

“I don’t think there’s a theme,” said Nelson, who’s been penalized 11 times, already more than any other season in his career. “I just need to lock in.”

Richardson certainly wasn’t blameless, either, as he went 11-of-28 passing for 172 yards. It was his fourth game this season with a completion percentage below 50 percent, and he noted that there were a few throws he wishes he had back, including a miss to a wide-open Alec Pierce downfield in the first quarter. But the box score, as Colts head coach Shane Steichen and Richardson’s teammates suggested, doesn’t provide the full picture of Richardson’s performance.

“I thought (Richardson was) really good, just like last week,” Nelson said. “Maybe even better this week just running and passing. I think he’s doing a great job and just raising his play week to week.”

Richardson, starting behind an offensive line Sunday that featured three rookies, hardly had time to throw. He was pressured on 46.7 percent of his dropbacks, according to TruMedia, the second-highest mark of his career. The fact that he didn’t take a sack spoke more to his individual effort than the help he received up front.

Steichen commended Richardson for his poise on a day when the Colts were far from performing their best. They amassed 75 yards in penalties, though the true damage was shown in the yardage the penalties negated. The Colts had 98 yards of offense wiped away by infractions, including a 21-yard catch by tight end Kylen Granson in the first quarter, a 19-yard run by running back Jonathan Taylor in the second quarter and a 30-yard reception by wide receiver Josh Downs in the third quarter.

You could argue the reason those plays were so explosive was because of the penalties, though Steichen explained that the big plays were still there if his team simply performed at its usual level. Entering Sunday’s contest, Indianapolis had committed the fourth-fewest penalties (60) among teams that had already played 11 games this season. The Colts were also 37-3 all-time when committing zero turnovers and surrendering zero sacks, per Pro Football Reference.

“When you’re first-and-20 and second-and-20, those are tough situations,” Steichen said. “Again, we’ve got to play clean football. It’s fundamentals, technique, and it starts with me.”

Pierce, whose 39-yard reception in the second quarter came two plays before Ogletree’s drop, shared the same outlook as his coach.

We love ourselves an AP bomb. 💣

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/H0EiAdEcLI

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) November 24, 2024

Pierce was flagged for offensive pass interference on Downs’ 30-yard reception. Despite the penalty, Richardson still managed to produce four plays of at least 24 yards. He also had a pair of 17-yard runs, including one in the third quarter in which he ran over Lions star safety Brian Branch and two other defenders.

“He still looked like he was out there making plays and ran the ball hard,” Pierce said. “He fought all four quarters, trying to lead us on a comeback. You know it’s gonna be growing pains and stuff like that. … I was proud of how he played.”

Richardson getting loose.

📺: #DETvsIND on FOX
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— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024

Richardson wasn’t as complimentary of himself when giving his assessment of his performance.

“We lost. So, it wasn’t good enough,” Richardson said. “We just gotta get back to the drawing board.”

One area the Colts must figure out as they analyze their issues is how to reduce Richardson’s workload. The QB led Indianapolis with 10 carries for 61 yards while running back Taylor was held to a season-low 35 yards on 11 carries. Taylor’s 3.2 yards per carry on Sunday was saved by a 14-yard run on 3rd-and-20 in the third quarter, his only carry of the second half.

If Indianapolis remains unable to maximize Taylor, it can’t bank on Richardson putting the team on his back like he did against the Jets. His outings will, more than likely, look like the one he had Sunday where the burden was simply too much to carry on his own. More absentee performances from Taylor, arguably the best offensive player on the team, could lead to Richardson being overloaded and overwhelmed as he tries to continue developing.

That’s not a recipe for success in the short or long term, as Indianapolis, still in the playoff mix, hopes to bounce back and get hot against a friendlier schedule the rest of the season.

“They played that game the right way, and we didn’t go out and execute the way we knew that we were supposed to,” Richardson said of Sunday’s loss.

Put simply: The Colts cannot expect to beat good teams if they’re too busy beating themselves.