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Colts QB Anthony Richardson Was ‘Special’: Inside the Drive That Saved Indy’s Season

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Colts QB Anthony Richardson Was ‘Special’: Inside the Drive That Saved Indy’s Season

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Indianapolis Colts’ season was on the line Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. A failure on this final drive would result in a loss. A loss would all but kill the team’s playoff hopes.

At one point, 80 yards separated the Colts from the New England Patriots end zone. Eighteen plays later, Anthony Richardson and company had it down to 3 yards – but it was fourth-and-goal with 12 seconds left. The Patriots were one stop away from winning. Richardson snatched it from their hands.

First, he delivered a pinpoint touchdown pass to receiver Alec Pierce on a crossing route that brought Indianapolis within one point.

“The guy was following me and I stepped on him, so (Richardson) did a good job putting the ball there,” Pierce said. “I just tried to hold on for dear life.”

Then, trailing 24-23, Colts coach Shane Steichen did not hesitate. He went for a two-point conversion and would trust his quarterback to get the win.

“Put it in the hands of (No.) 5 to go get it,” Steichen said afterward.

Richardson proved him right, delivering the coup de grace with a deadly run up the middle to secure two points and a victory for the Colts, 25-24.

“Anytime we’re in this situation, I wish I had the ball in my hands,” Richardson said. “I feel like I can play a role.”

Steichen dialed up a zone read that gave Richardson the option to hand the ball to star running back Jonathan Taylor or call his own number. Richardson chose the latter option and broke the Patriots’ hearts.

Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai, who had deflected one of Richardson’s passes and forced an interception in the first quarter, stayed with Taylor on the outside while Richardson simulated the handoff. That space was all Richardson needed to keep the ball and track his blockers up the middle. All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson led the way, stepping away from the left side of the line and circling around to weave through the Patriots’ bigger defenders. Richardson was right behind him, even though he still didn’t have a red carpet waltz into the end zone.

Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux hit Richardson and relieved him at the 1-yard line. Tavai jumped onto his back. Yet even when the play was no longer supposed to work, tight end Mo Alie-Cox never lost confidence. He claims Richardson is special enough to bend the game to his will. The way Richardson kept his legs flailing as he crossed the goal line was his final and perhaps most triumphant example.

“It’s his no-nonsense attitude,” Alie-Cox said. “He finds a way to escape situations that most quarterbacks wouldn’t get out of.”

Richardson’s two-point conversion was the highlight of an otherwise eventful outing. The second-year pro tied his career high with three total touchdowns, including two performances in the last three weeks. However, Sunday was far from the dazzling display he had against the Jets. Richardson looked erratic and unpredictable as he completed just 50 percent of his passes (12 of 24) for 109 yards. He started 3 out of 3 in the air, highlighted by a 7-yard TD pass to Taylor on the first drive, and he tacked on a 3-yard TD run in the second quarter. But he also threw two interceptions, the second coming with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and Indianapolis facing a seven-point deficit.

It could have meant the end.

The Indianapolis defense, which had been picked apart by Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye seemingly all day, made sure that wasn’t the case. The Colts forced a three-and-out and the Patriots’ first punt of the day. That’s when Indianapolis saw Richardson transform into the kind of player capable of changing the direction of a franchise.

“I’m not a player. I don’t watch horror movies. I like romantic comedies and I like knowing the ending,” linebacker Zaire Franklin joked about the anxiety he felt watching the Colts’ final practice. “But you put the ball in the hands of (No.) 5, he’s a superstar in the making.”

Richardson accounted for 58 of the Colts’ 80 yards rushing to win the game, which did not include a 14-yard pass interference call by wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. The Colts’ 19-play lead to the end zone was tied for second. -longest drive in the NFL this season, and his three fourth-down conversions are tied for the most drives this year. The first conversion, an 11-yard pass to Alie-Cox on fourth-and-3 from the Indy 40-yard line, wasn’t even a play designed for the tight end. He was supposed to block a play designed to beat man coverage. But when the Patriots showed the zone, Richardson improvised to avoid being sacked before finding Alie-Cox.

“Shane was in my ear (before the play) saying, ‘You have to have it here.’ You have to make it work. Find a way,” Richardson recalls. “And luckily, I looked down, and Mo is practically there, facing me.”

Pittman called his team’s journey “crazy,” perhaps because of how improbable it was at times. Rookie receiver AD Mitchell and fourth-year tight end Kylen Granson each had drops on deep balls that would have put Indianapolis in the red zone. If the Colts had let them, those drops could have been drive killers. The end of the season, in this case.

Instead, Richardson continued to progress, closing in on the second game-winning touchdown of his fledgling career until it was finally within reach. The young QB said he didn’t view Sunday’s win as the one that saved the Colts’ campaign, but rather as another game and another week.

Veteran teammates like Pittman and Franklin were a little more candid, acknowledging that their one-point win was huge as they head into the bye week and the final leg of their season, while also offering flowers to Richardson. The 22-year-old has often said he admires Tom Brady and how powerful the seven-time Super Bowl champion is.

On Sunday, in the same venue that Brady has captivated for two decades, it was Richardson’s turn to steal the show and keep the door open for a playoff bid.

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“I told (Richardson), ‘Look, when you commit to the process, you give yourself a chance to be great.’ It’s not a guarantee, but you give yourself a chance,” Franklin said “He gives himself a chance every week to be great. times, and it’s just special.

(Photo by Anthony Richardson: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)