Anthony Richardson Led A Game Winning 19 Play, 80-Yard Drive, Topped Off With A Go Ahead 2-Point Conversion To Beat The Patriots
My apologies, I know this is traditionally a Boston sports website. I'm assuming Jerry Thornton will have some sort of blog on this game written from a New England Patriots perspective. But I'm a Colts fan. And I'm sure there are Colts fans out there who read Barstool Sports as well. There have to be. Multiple probably. Maybe even dozens.
Personally, when I watch the Colts, I'm foremost thankful that we have a quarterback who is at bare minimum fun. You never know what's going to happen when the Colts snap the ball on offense. Any play, from any spot on the field, at any given moment, could be the most beautiful touchdown pass you've ever seen. Or Anthony Richardson could run the ball up middle and go trampling over a linebacker, making him look like he's a high school freshman. On the other hand, he could get sacked and break 4 limbs all at one. Or he could throw a pass directly into Christian Gonzales' facemask.
Whatever narrative you want to have on Anthony Richardson, you can skew the stats and find the highlights to confirm your stance. If you want to say he sucks, you'd probably cite that particular interception he threw to Christian Gonzales. Or perhaps this interception he threw at the end of the first quarter, when he didn't have to snap the ball at all. Could have simply let the clock run down to zero.
And you might pull up throws such as this one where Anthony Richardson has a wide open receiver and fails to keep his pass within the field of play.
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You'd probably reference his passing statistics from today's game, and point out his 109 total yards and a 50% completion rate. Along with a 55.7 RTG.
On the other hand.. Anthony Richardson rushed for 48 yards & 1 TD on 9 carries. And when the game mattered most, Richardson led the Colts on an 19 play 80 yard TD drive. And when you have a guy like Anthony Richardson, if you want to end the game with a 2-point conversion, you can rely on him to take the snap and find a hole up the middle for 3 yards. That's an incredible asset to have at QB.
Additionally… if you watch the games… his receivers simply refuse to catch the god damn football sometimes. Anthony Richardson's game winning TD drive featured 3 passes that could have been touchdowns if his receivers made a play for him.
If either of those balls are caught, at minimum they're down by the goal line. But it didn't matter. Richardson stuck with it. And thankfully, on 4th & goal, the third pass hit for 6.
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In reality, Anthony Richardson is an extremely raw quarterback with tons of talent, who despite trajecting upwards, is still a major work in progress. He's playing nowhere close to perfect. He's still going to make mistakes. But he does deserve more help from his receivers. He's a little injury prone. But he's a physical specimen. There's no throw on the field he can't make. No bad situation he can't use his legs to escape from. He's a fucking roller coaster to cheer for, but he's shown more than enough good flashes that he deserves plenty of leash. Colts fans have every reason to be hopeful about him blossoming into their quarterback of the future.
The game itself was pretty ugly all around for the Colts. Probably the worst defensive performance they've had all year. The Patriots should have had at least 30 points. They had so many long drives that ended in field goals… or missed 25-yard field goals…
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Or extremely lucky (but opportunistic) interceptions…
Even after the Colts took a 1-point lead with 12 seconds left. That was ALMOST enough time for the Patriots to get in field goal range and win the game. The Colts were a stiff breeze away from losing on an NFL record setting field goal.
Thank god it was cold outside. Just another game of Anthony Richardson looking very hopeful and very unpolished all at the same time. He got WAY more help from the opposing team than he did his own. The man is the definition of a project quarterback. But I believe in him. I see the vision. The number of mistakes will gradually diminish. One of these days he's going to get a tight end with real human hands attached to the ends of his arms. And maybe even a new coaching staff. And a new GM. Jury is still out on those guys.