The Colts might have a great quarterback in Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen is not doing a good job of getting the most out of him.
The disaster that was the Broncos game should serve as a starch reminder that this Colts team is not playoff caliber and is levels away from being one. In order to become a playoff team, changes need to be made and that starts with Shane Steichen.
The way the Anthony Richardson benching was handled was completely poor. Steichen left most of the team in the dark with the move, which caused a lot of confusion amongst the players (based on their interviews). The move was clearly made hastily and it led to absolutely nothing from Joe Flacco. There was an argument to be made that when Richardson was playing poorly in games, he could be replaced by Flacco, but to outright bench him when he needed the experience was not only a poor decision but it was handled even worse. A poorly done decision like that could lead to the destruction of a quarterback’s confidence. Luckily that wasn’t the case with Richardson.
During the 2024 season, Richardson has been completely misused. In 2023, Richardson thrived in his short amount of time using RPOs and running the hell out of the ball. Until recently, Richardson only started running more again and Steichen has still refused to call RPOs. The Colts have called 13 RPOs for Richardson this season, which is low. In 2023, 10% of the pass plays called for Richardson were RPOs. In 2024, that number is 5%. With RPOs, the reads are simplified and there is the threat of a run with Taylor or Richardson, who are both incredibly good in that regard. Those plays are tailored perfectly for Richardson and the Colts have inexplicably called much less of them. Steichen called the same amount (percentage wise) of RPOs for Flacco in the games he started! The Colts should be amongst the league leaders in RPOs!
The team’s play calling has been odd, shifting away from a run first strategy for no reason and when they rely on Richardson to throw the ball, that isn’t the best strategy for the current time; this has left them with a lot of long 3rd down situations.
In general, the Colts should be amongst the league leaders in terms of rush attempts per game. When you have Richardson and Taylor, you can take over games if you effectively run the ball. The Colts are average in the league in terms of rush attempts per game (15th) and if you take a look at the 7 teams who run the ball the most: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Detroit, Baltimore, Green Bay, Buffalo, you’ll see that they are all playoff teams. The run game has been rejuvenated in the NFL and teams with strong ones (who commit to them) are winning games. The Colts have one of the best running backs in the league in Taylor and one of the best running quarterbacks in Richardson. Richardson is not polished at all as a passer so there is no excuse not to be a run heavy team.
Many, including myself, hope that Anthony Richardson can have a Josh Allen type of rise. Many forget that Josh Allen had a terrible start to his career and many (including myself) believed he should/would be benched. In their first season together, they tried a lot of things and Allen was not successful. However, in their 2nd season together, Allen saw tremendous strides as a passer and the two developed an extremely close bond that to this day they share. Daboll transformed the offense in his 2nd year to Allen’s strengths. He leveraged Allen’s big arm by incorporating play-action plays, which opened up deep shots and maximized his throwing ability. He designed run schemes to utilize Allen’s athleticism, adding an extra dimension to the offense. Daboll also reduced the complexity of passing concepts to build confidence and improve decision-making. Daboll introduced more advanced passing concepts as Allen became more comfortable, increasing his ability to read defenses and he taught him how to anticipate routes and improved his mechanics to hit receivers in stride. He stripped away many parts of his offense, starting just with the bones of it and slowly but surely he added layers and layers when Allen showed improvement. Then, in the third season, after he showed great progress, they added Stefon Diggs, added new concepts and the offense exploded and Allen became one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL that season, a title he has held since.
Richardson has not improved much this season in comparison to last season. In the two full games he played in last season, he played tremendously well and showed great promise. In the first 8 games of this season, he didn’t look anywhere near that level of player. It took until the Jets game after the benching to finally show the same level of promise that he showed last year. Besides that game, he’s had bits and pieces of great play, but no consistency. To me, it’s clear that he and Steichen are not a good football fit and if the Colts are all in on Richardson, they’ll need to find an offensive coach that can build an offense around his strengths and call plays like Brian Daboll did for Josh Allen. Shane Steichen is not getting the most of Anthony Richardson and I have no reason to believe that that would change next season. If the domino pieces are to fall, they should start with Steichen.
Getting a coach that is right for Anthony Richardson should be priority number one. You would think a coach like Shane Steichen, who has experience with Jalen Hurts, would’ve been a good fit, but he was not. The team needs their Brian Daboll for Richardson, someone who will build an offense for him and call plays specifically tailored to his strengths. If it needs to be stripped down and then built up slowly, then so bet it. The Colts need to find a coach that works for Richardson and nothing else. If it works for 99% of the team and not Richardson, then he can’t be hired. The Colts coaching staff needs a fresh start.