INDIANAPOLIS– Anthony Richardson is back while Colts starting quarterback, but the hope is not to find him as the quarterback he was before.
He must be better this time.
For this to happen, he will have to do his part by imbibing the lessons that the Colts spoke to him about match preparation and concentration during two weeks on the bench. He will need to make more layups to improve his 44% success rate. And he’ll have to avoid the turnovers that ended practices.
“I feel like these last couple of weeks have definitely opened my eyes and allowed me to have the opportunity to do that and dive deeper and look within and see what I’m like really done,” Richardson said.
But all young quarterbacks also need support, especially one who is 22 years old and has 10 career starts. He must repair himself, but he cannot repair the offense alone. Here’s the game plan to solve at least some of the Colts’ offensive issues.
Run the ball (beep)
The reality that has become painfully apparent over the past two weeks is that the Colts are not built to be a pass-first team.
That’s become even more true since Week 5, when they lost right guard Will Fries to a broken tibia and much of Michael Pittman Jr. to a further aggravation of his back. Giving up an elite interior pass protector and the juice of a No. 1 outside wide receiver created settings in which Flacco or Richardson struggled to thrive, and neither did. do.
That could potentially change some this week, with Pittman returning to full practices after finally taking a game. But with Bernhard Raimann likely to miss the game with a knee injury, the Colts could start three rookies along the offensive line against the Jets.
Running the ball is how the Colts were built with an All-Pro running back in Jonathan Taylor, an All-Pro guard in Quenton Nelson primarily blocking tight ends and a quarterback in Richardson who is all developed as the runner he is. t as a passer.
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“You always have to account for him,” Taylor said of Richardson. “Whether he takes a step to the left or a step to the right, there better be someone there to account for him, otherwise they will play.
“I’m excited to see the plays he does. … There’s always a few plays where you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t know many other people who can do that.’ It’s always a special moment for me.”
Designing running plays for Richardson may introduce injury risk, but given that the Colts have already voluntarily taken him off the field, they can’t afford to live in their fears with a player who needs both evaluation and development. He showed he can excel as a runner, as he is the first quarterback in NFL history with four rushing scores in his first three games and averaging 5.7 yards per carry for his career so far.
The Colts have thus far saved Richardson-designed runs for the second halves of games, almost out of necessity.
Conversely, they only wanted to play Taylor in the first halves of games. They essentially benched him during fourth quarters against the Packers and Vikings in favor of pass protecting running back Trey Sermon, but running Taylor remains their best way to erase deficits.
This All-Pro with four 100-yard performances in seven contests is one of the only reliable pieces they have. And plays like his 58-yarder rumbled down the right sideline Sunday, demonstrating that it’s also a way to stay explosive.
“Especially with the guys up front,” Taylor said. “It’s not like I’m doing it alone. I’m able to talk to the guys right off the bat, like, ‘Let’s put this thing to bed. Let’s put this thing to bed and go home. Let’s finish with the ball in our hands.
“It’s always a good feeling, especially when we’re taking first down after first down after first down at the end of the game and we’re just slowing down the clock.”
Time to move on to the Jalen Hurts playbook
Richardson and Taylor represent two of the most unique athletes an NFL backfield has ever seen. It’s hard to find a combination of two players weighing at least 225 pounds and both capable of running 40 yards in 4.4 seconds or less.
The NFL currently has two comparable tandems on the field.
The Ravens have Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, the rare combination of a two-time MVP quarterback and a two-time rushing champion running back. They are the benchmark, as both are physically imposing and are fully formed versions of each other, and they play like it, as Henry leads the NFL with 1,120 yards and 12 touchdowns and Jackson himself threw 538 yards and two touchdowns. .
As a result, the Ravens are 7-3 despite a litany of defensive issues, and they lead all teams in over 200 rushing yards.
Second on this list is a team with an even better model for the Colts to follow.
The Eagles knew they needed to do more to support Jalen Hurts after he took a step back in his first season without Shane Steichen calling the plays, so they signed two-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley.
Now the Eagles are 7-2 thanks to a zone rushing attack that leaves Barkley just nine yards away from his fourth 1,000-yard season averaging 5.8 yards per carry and has Hurts with 10 touchdowns on floor, ranking second in the league only. to Henry.
Steichen is a Philadelphia native, where he developed Hurts from a 52 percent passer the year before he arrived to a 67 percent passer and second-ranked MVP by the time he left. He did it through reps, which was the plan he promised for Richardson, the one he paused with the bench and is now starting again by promising to start him the rest of the year. season.
But he also brought Hurts into a positive space with himself and the team by having success with his legs on designed runs. Hurts ran the ball an average of 10.1 times per game during Steichen’s two seasons as offensive coordinator. (In comparison, Richardson averages 6.6 attempts per game during his young career). Hurts’ 23 touchdowns and 123 first downs with his legs propelled the Eagles to two playoff appearances and a Super Bowl, success that gave Hurts time to develop the accuracy that comes with playing time and rehearsals.
Just as importantly, the early downs the Eagles were able to achieve without Hurts’ arm allowed them to stay in games and keep the defense fresh, which is paramount for the Colts right now. They fixed many of the defensive issues that plagued them early in the season with stronger tackling, a lethal pass rush led by DeForest Buckner and Dayo Odeyingbo on the interior, more blitzes and coverage variations to force teams to cover the entire length of the field. , where sacks and turnovers can end drives.
But this bend-no-break style only works if the defense doesn’t immediately return to the field a few plays after a drive ends. They need an offense that can stay on the field and eat up time, and that’s what Taylor and Richardson’s running game can provide.
But it will also do more than that.
More explosive games
This will allow the Colts to return to more explosive plays, with runs of 10 yards or more. This will give them a lethal recipe in the red zone, where scoring seven points instead of three can force opposing offenses to respond by dropping back and handling the Colts’ pass rush.
He can survive gaps in their tackles’ play by freezing defensive ends and allowing those tackles and tight ends to climb up to the second level. He will take advantage of the two tight end sets the Colts like to use to help a rookie like Matt Goncalves as he replaces Raimann.
If the running game is lethal enough, it will force defenses to sometimes abandon two-high safeties that prevent the deep pass. When the safety then moves to the middle of the field, the sideline can open up for a player like Alec Pierce, Adonai Mitchell, or Josh Downs to fly down the field with a quarterback who, while still needing to step up his precision, has as much strength in his arms. like any player in the game.
These receivers may have to provide limited volume, but they see a potential spark.
“I feel like it’s similar to how the Panthers benched Bryce Young and now he’s won his last two games,” Downs said. “It could be the same outcome.”
No one knows where this will end up or what it will look like along the way. The old development plan has been abandoned and re-evaluated, and a new version must emerge. That’s true for the 22-year-old quarterback and the team and staff tasked with maximizing his unique, evolving, exciting but imperfect skillset.
Sunday at MetLife Stadium will be the first test of everything everyone has learned.
This article was originally published on the Indianapolis Star: Colts: How the new Anthony Richardson-led offense should work
