Anthony Richardson put up a career day in his return against the New York Jets that included his biggest moment, when he led a late game-winning touchdown drive.
But in addition to Richardson’s excellent play, we also saw adjustments made by head coach and play-caller Shane Steichen.
It was a run-centric approach, but it’s not as if the passing game was forgotten about either. The Colts would carry the ball 35 times in this game and throw the ball 30 times.
In previous games where we’ve seen this team get away from Taylor and the ground game in the second half, it continued to be a part of the equation versus the Jets, even when trailing.
Richardson was also heavily involved in the run game as well, carrying the ball 10 times. While all teams want to limit the number of hits their quarterback takes, as Steichen said during training camp, Richardson’s ability with the ball is one of his superpowers, and not utilizing that component takes away from what this offense can be.
All of that sounds relatively simple, as in, yes, the Colts should do this every week. But they weren’t–even prior to Richardson being benched. There were games where Taylor’s touches in the second half were minimal and Richardson was hardly utilized on designed runs.
Against a good Jets’ defensive front, the run game wasn’t overly effective–averaging just 2.6 yards per rush as team–but the commitment to it and designing plays off of it can still open up opportunities in the passing game, which Richardson took advantage of. He was the most efficient that he’s been on the short to intermediate throws.
This was a gameplan that, I’m assuming, many who follow the Colts thought they were going to see from this team all season.
