Colts are more explosive with Anthony Richardson, but need consistency

INDIANAPOLIS – Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson dropped back and scanned the field. As he dodged the pass rush and recovered from a slip at the end of his dropback, Richardson practically had to squint to see receiver Alec Pierce race nearly 50 yards down the field.

Undeterred, Richardson threw the football toward Pierce.

Amazingly, despite the distance, the ball got there, even though Richardson threw off his back foot to avoid the pass rush. Pierce caught it just before it crossed the goal line and scored a 60-yard touchdown, the longest play of his career.

“AP just did his job and all I had to do was pass him the ball,” Richardson said of Pierce. “I think I did a pretty good job of getting the ball there and he made a play.”

That would be an understatement.

“That was probably the best throw I've ever seen,” said Colts coach Shane Steichen. “The next one was probably [Patrick] Mahomes, when I [with] the Chargers in 2020, to Tyreek Hill. But it was impressive. He … just damn well started the thing and hit Alec on the run. It was incredibly impressive.”

The Colts have identified developing more explosive plays as an offensive priority for 2024. And it doesn't get much more explosive than the Colts' first touchdown of the new season: Richardson's connection to Pierce helped Indianapolis score in their loss to the Houston Texans in Week 1.

And there was more to come. Richardson and the Colts completed passes of 57 yards and 54 yards to Pierce and Ashton Dulin, respectively, later in the game.

That's exactly what the Colts wanted this season: They wanted to avoid the long, exhausting drives that were common last season when Richardson missed 13 games due to injury.

“He's got a huge arm that we can use to drive the ball down the field and then we have the speed to get it,” Steichen said. “I think when you're that explosive in the passing game, instead of those 12-, 13-, 14-play runs, you get an opportunity to hit some big balls.”

Pierce said: “A lot can go wrong [on long drives]. There can be turnovers, penalties and all that stuff.”

However, Sunday's game was one of the strangest offensive performances ever seen. The Colts were very successful with aggressive throws and quick points, but they also watched Richardson struggle to complete more routine passes throughout the day.

The young quarterback, making his fifth professional appearance, had 212 passing yards, completing 9 of 19 attempts with one interception. But if you subtract Richardson's three explosive passes, he was left with just 6 of 16 for 41 yards on his other attempts.

The Colts will not apologize for the big plays, of course, and they certainly count. There is a feeling within the organization that the routine plays will come. The big plays, on the other hand, are much harder to come by, but they have already shown they can make them.

“He's going to miss some throws, just like every other quarterback in the league,” Steichen said. “But we'll get that under control.”

To put the Colts' aggressiveness with Richardson at quarterback into perspective, consider that he averaged 16.6 air yards per attempt on Sunday. The league average last season was 7.5. No other quarterback averaged more than 11 air yards per attempt in Week 1.

And Richardson's number would have been even higher had he thrown two long throws to rookie wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. Richardson threw it too far twice, including once on a route where Mitchell received an illegal contact penalty for hitting his defender. That penalty interrupted a potential 40-plus yard score.

“Coach Shane will give it his all as always and it's up to the 11 players on the field to go out there and execute,” Mitchell said. “The best is yet to come.”

The difference in the Colts' offensive line is perhaps most evident with Pierce, who has spent the last two seasons waiting to make the threat he poses a consistent presence, but hasn't been able to do so due to the team's challenges at quarterback.

Pierce finished seventh in the league in routes run (575) in 2023, but he was 93rd in the league in targets (67) and 135th in receptions (32). Now, with a strong and aggressive quarterback like Richardson, Pierce is making the biggest impact of his career. He had a career-high 125 receiving yards with three catches.

Richardson has improved the Colts' long-range passing game tremendously, even if he's still fine-tuning other areas. That gives the Colts reason to plan big things.

“I'm sitting here thinking, 'Damn, this guy is four months older than me, the youngest quarterback in the NFL right now, and he's making the plays he's making, and it's only Game 1,'” Mitchell said. “It's like we're in pretty good shape here.”