Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson Shines Against Top Defense, Until Injury Knocks Him Out Early

Episode Date: September 30, 2024

Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson got off to a fast start against a vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers defense, until another injury knocked him out of the game. What can we take away from this showing from the young passer? Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the app  or click HERE and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Quarterback Anthony Richardson was off to a fiery start against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and then his day ended short with yet another injury. We're going to talk about it here today on Locked On Colts. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts.

Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Hello, everyone. I am Zach Hicks, your favorite film nerd over at HorseshoeHuddle.com. And I'm joined today, like I am on every Monday, by our friend Ben Boris at Colts Film Room over there on Twitter. You can also find his work over at the Blue Stable.

I think you have a Josh Downs piece coming up this week. So I'm going to have to go away from my Josh Downs idea because it was such a great Josh Downs game, just so we don't overlap with each other. But really fun stuff there that is coming up from Ben here on the blue stable. But today we are talking Anthony Richardson. And unfortunately, we're also talking Joe Flacco. And then also kind of what this means for the future of the Colts. Just to get to the top of this show, though, and talk about the injury itself. Look, we're not doctors. Ben and I don't claim to be doctors like a lot of people on social media do. We don't claim to be doctors, but it appears that the Colts dodged a little bit of a bullet here. Richardson was diagnosed with a hip pointer, and that's what the Colts believed at the time.

It was going to be a hip pointer, which is essentially a bone contusion or a bone bruise on the hip in the game. MRIs and x-rays came out pretty good. They believe it should take, you know, like he'll be dealing with soreness this week. He might miss this next game as the Jaguars, but that would be the worst case scenario, Best case scenario, he's back out there this week. Worst case, he's back for the Titans game. So the Colts really did avoid a major injury here. I know he left this game after 13 snaps, but it seems like they were being very cautious. Like you and I are kind of in agreement here, Ben, where like if this were a playoff game or this were even a December game, you probably get him back out there. But look, it's a September game. He took a hit.

17-0, 14-0 at that point. Right, right. And I'm not going to say the Colts thought the game was put away. No, no, no. I don't mean that. It's like you have the two scores to go off of. You bet on – you pay a guy like Joe Flacco to go in there and hold the lead. Yeah, yeah.

So I get the Colts decision. I'm glad they, they aired on the side of caution, even if it makes discourse throughout the week, horrible. Like it's kind of like that Jaguars game from last year where they took Richardson out for the final couple of plays. And then it became this,

Oh, Anthony Richardson didn't finish the game against the Jaguars. It's like, well, what he did. I mean, four plays, whatever.

Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's not to that same degree but it's kind of another one where it's like yeah he didn't finish the game but like they were being very cautious with it it feels different than the concussion or obviously the hurt shoulder from last year but it is another injury to add here anthony richardson wasn't able to finish another game that looked like he was off to a great start. That's now three times in his NFL career where he's gotten off to fantastic starts, looked like he was going to have just these elite days throwing the ball and playing football for the Colts and then leaving

the game early. But in those 13 snaps, the Colts had four explosive plays in this one, including two runs of over 20 yards or over 15 yards. And this one, I think the Taylor run was not 20 yards, but over 15 yards, two passing plays over 20 yards, another pass to downs that went for 11 yards. I mean, this Colts offense was clicking with Anthony Rich in the game. His season total on like EPA per play went from like one of the worst in football

to like below average because of his 13 snaps in this game against the top defense in football so it's hard to say what his day would have looked like if it continued because we know the highs and lows of this young quarterback but it was looking like a pretty great day like he almost hit his like he was like halfway to his passing total against the bears halfway through the first quarter in this game with after three completions so he was having a pretty good day before the injury came up ben yeah and i i thought to start you're right i think it stinks because the discourse is now all about his injury and not about him doing that verse one of the best defenses in football coming into this game um he executed that opening script beautifully like oh well obviously like you know

shane steichen along with most coaches in the nfl they're going to have a first 15 their first 15 called and it's going to be all these different things to get information about how a team is going to play you during the game and then get your quarterback in rhythm and anthony richardson executed that perfectly i mean the first play to pitman, I, it looked like an almost, I tweeted out, it almost looked like an I almost interception ball. That was perfectly layered. Like I did from that end zone view, it didn't look like Joey Porter had a chance to get his hand on the ball. Only Pittman did. I think he's looks really good in, in play action passes. Like that's something that's really started to become a trend for me where like, you know, I think in the Houston game, it was like, let's just take shots.

Let's just take shots. Let's get this quarterback's arm going. And I think as the season went on, you kind of saw like, oh, no, his footwork is a lot cleaner. I think I think he sees the field better. And I think that it just gets him in a better rhythm than maybe like full field dropbacks at this point. I'm not saying he can't do that. Like he does do that. He has done that. But I think that it's clearly a staple of when he's in there.

And obviously he hit Pitt on the first one. And then he also hit Pittman on that second one on the second drive as well. He was rolling. He was rolling. Theback run game was going. They were clicking on pretty much all cylinders. So I think you feel really good about just the bounce back, quick start. The Colts have kind of struggled this season to start fast outside of maybe the monster ball to Pierce in week one. It's really been tough for them to start fast. They were playing complimentary football early with the three and out and then the play and the touchdown drive.

So, yeah, it's really disappointing that this is the discourse that we're going into. But credit to Anthony Richardson for bouncing back in those first 13 because you could not have asked for anything better. better yeah it just makes the conversation so much tougher because like it's not like he was struggling and then he got hurt like he was bawling in this game I mean you mentioned the first throw to to Michael Pittman Jr. and that was one of the Colts like typical Yankee concepts that they've been running all year. I mean, they have called that type of play at least like 15 times this season. It feels like, right?

Like, I think that's what the Pierce touchdown was. I think the pick against the Packers was the exact type of player. They know they're going to get cover three on early downs because people are selling out to stop when you get it. And here's the thing kind of with this offense and the emergence of Josh Downs opens up a whole new realm of things. But the Colts really do play a game of are you going to stack the box or are we going to punish you for doing that? So like you either are forced to play Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson, potentially with the quarterback run, because they're going to outnumber you in the box.

And now with Josh Downs and potentially some of these play action passes, they're punishing you for doing that in the first place. So Mike Tomlin coming into this game said it was going to be a cat-and-mouse game in terms of stacking the box and what coverages you want to play. It's really tough to defend this offense when they're rolling and when they're executing. It's really on them more than it is on the defense a lot of the time to start this year. Yeah, and it's kind of hilarious too because on those Yankee concept plays, you know who's going where. You pierce is the one going vertical you know pitman is the one breaking over the middle in the intermediate game it's about just who you devote your resources to

because again you're in cover three of limited resources back there and look credit joey porter he read that route correctly like he read the plague correctly he did everything right the ball was located where it had to be yeah it was like a perfect throw from from anthony richard and then you go to the other throw to michael pitman jr before he left the game perfectly drives into that that little dig route over the middle of the field the best of anthony richard where he is able to just clean up his footwork step into it rip into the pass and it goes right where it needs to go uh nice little read to josh downs too on the other completion. Like these were some good completions out the gate from Anthony Richardson.

And yes, they went for explosive plays, which has been kind of his bread and butter this season. But like they were just good reads, good, strong throws. And obviously the first one to throw that only he can make or him and a few other guys can make. So it was really shaping up to be a really strong Anthony Richardson day. And then obviously you add in the QB run game. I mean, he left the game early and he had, what,

over 30 yards rushing in this game on two, three carries. Like it was looking like a really strong day for him. He had over a hundred yards of offense in halfway through the first quarter. And this whole offense had, yeah, it was nearly 10 yards per play when he was on the field. It was insane. And I think we're starting to see, you know, get, you know, coming this year, we just didn't have a lot of evidence to make claims on Anthony Richardson. He's starting to build that out and what we know he can do and what he can't. It's clear that when it's a throw

that he can drive into and really utilize his arm strength and keep a clean base and then just let it rip he get he can throw those balls very very well i think he can throw some touch throws down the field i think that's less of an issue short to the flat seems to be as a real issue i think in those kind of areas i think there's enough film out there right now to show that that's a true a real problem for him in terms of letting that ball sail. The one thing I think that people want an answer on, and I don't think it's always that simple, it's like, oh, well, he needs to, you know, his footwork is all, it's his footwork, it's his footwork.

And I don't think it's always a cookie cutter answer sometimes. I think they're all little things as he starts to get more reps. And I think we'll start to see those easy throws kind of come down because I think the bottom line with Anthony Richardson is like, he can do all these crazy things on a football field. It's on the coaches and it's on himself to learn how to hit the throws that everybody can make. And I'd rather that than the other way around. Like I can't, we'll get to in the next segment, we can't teach Joe Flacco how to run bash GT or throw the ball.

It would be funny though. It would be very funny, but we can't throw, he can't throw the ball also can't throw the ball 80 yards off his back foot. So like you can't teach Anthony Richardson to do these things, but you can teach him how to hit maybe a speed out to the field. You know what I mean? Right. Right. And that's, that's perfect way to segue into our next segment.

And also our final segment today. So we are going to talk about that coming forward. We're going to break down what Joe Flacco did well in this game, especially as a backup off the bench, and then kind of compare the two and talk about what the difference is in the offense between these two players. But first, when you're hiring for your small business, you want to find the quality professionals that are right for the role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs has the tools to help you find the right professionals for your team faster and for free.

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On LinkedIn, 86% of small business get qualified candidate within 24 hours. Hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at linkedinjobs.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. All righty, Colts fans. We are back here talking Indianapolis Colts quarterback play, because I guess I can't

say we're talking Anthony Richardson. We're doing the thing that we were dreading all offseason then, and we're talking about Joe Flacco's performance. Hopefully the last time we see Joe Flacco suit up, or not suit up, but like go on the field for the Colts this season. Maybe if the Colts have like a blowout victory, he can go out there and take some kneel downs for the Colts.

But Joe Flacco got out there, did the veteran quarterback thing of steadying the ship with the starting quarterback being down. Wasn't perfect. And we'll talk about that here. And there's clear limitations in his game. But at the end of the day, he delivered some big time throws on third down, which was huge. I mean, that's how you win ball games right there. So delivered some big throws on third down, got them in the end zone twice, moved the ball and maintained that success rate and kept the offense just operational and efficient,

which is something we haven't seen from the offense this year. We can talk about Anthony Richardson, what he can do and what he struggled with, but the offense really hasn't been efficient at any point this season, aside from, I guess, those first two drives with Richardson in this game. So maybe it was a Steelers defense thing. But Flacco came in, kept it efficient, kept the team at least, you know, if they weren't going to score touchdowns, they were getting first downs on drives and moving the ball a little bit and pushing the Steelers offense into, you know, negative territory. Like that was a big thing that we saw from a Flacco-led offense in this game.

What did you think of Joe Flacco though, Ben? I know you have a soft spot for veteran quarterback play just because they're so ready for what they have to do. I understand your love for it. Like, I totally, it's frustrating watching a young quarterback who doesn't know exactly what he's doing. Whereas an old quarterback maybe doesn't have the talent anymore, but like they know where the ball has to go. So they're going to at least give it a shot, you know,

like they, exactly. And they have no care in the world. They're just going to rip it out there and have fun with it because they're, you know, we're talking Joe Flacco, French hall of fame quarterback. Like this is what, have fun with it because they're, you know, we're talking Joe Flacco, French Hall of Fame quarterback. Like this is what this is what it is right here.

So, like, I have a soft spot for Gardner Minshew and Joe Flacco. Now, let me acknowledge that's not when Anthony Richardson is sidelined with an injury. I'd rather see Anthony Richardson out there. But it's like it's like a guilty pleasure. It's like, oh, you like Joe Flacco and Gardner Minshew? I do. Part of the reason I like it, and I think in that Shane Steichen offense specifically, is because you see so much sound football.

Like going through your reads correctly, having kind of quarterback play, you talk about wide and narrow vision in terms of you know narrowing in on on you know certain defenders when you're trying to read a defense but also having the wide defense to capture the entire picture i think joe flacco is really good at that you know just his clean feet and distributing the ball it's a lot of really good sound football not that anthony richardson can't do that but he doesn't have kind of the crafty veteran in him yet it's a lot of wild erratic insane explosive plays and it's fun to watch like it's objectively fun to watch i think i get that soft soft spot for joe flacco because he's never going to make a play that's

like oh my god he just did that but he's going to find the open guy on third and long and he made a lot of those really good you good throws to keep the offense on schedule. I think the one thing I also want to talk about is give a lot of props to Shane Steichen because he's done it before, and we almost take it for granted how you have to switch a game plan on the fly to account for something like Richardson to then go to Flacco like this. They've spent all OTAs, all training camp, all off season, repping the same quarterback runs, scramble drills, like deep shot play action balls that only Anthony Richardson can throw and

make. Like, and now we're you know you have to get basically you're looking at your call sheet and I'm like well Joe can't do that Joe can't do that Joe can't do that uh but Joe can do this this this and this we're gonna make this work and like a lot of this game plan turned into Josh Downs and you'll see on a film room that I'm gonna post probably after this Mike Tomlin did everything he could to try and stop Josh Downs throughout the course of the game. And Shane Steichen just schemed him open every time. And Josh Downs honestly had, I would put that up there as one of his best career games as a pro. Like it was a really good performance in terms of, we talk about it, putting him at

two week in empty. And it was really just just we're going to attack over and over and over with Joe Flacco, and he just is clean and he's sound. And I think that you have to give him credit for doing that. You have to give Shane Steichen a lot of credit. And then ultimately you have to give the entire 48 that were active on game day credit because they rallied around each other when the offense was getting stale and Joe was still settling in. The defense came up with a turnover and a big play.

So, like, I think it was a total team effort from that capacity, but Flacco did bring a lot of efficiency to the offense. Yeah, that's the biggest thing. And, like, I don't want to say I understand people calling for Flacco, but I understand just when you see it out there, it's so different from Richardson, out there, it's so different from Richardson where Richardson it's so feast or famine right now. It's so, I need to rip this ball 30, 40, 50 yards down the field, or I'm just going to move around the pocket and then maybe

still rip the ball, rip the ball 30 yards down the field where Flacco it's one look downfield. I don't like that look. I'm going to throw it to Taylor in rhythm. And that's why you see a guy like Flacco, even though Flacco didn't have a great completion percentage this game, it was like 61% or whatever, still better than any game Richardson's played this year, despite running a very similar offense in terms of what the Colts want to do. So I do think it is kind of appealing to see that type of offense

when you haven't seen it this year. Now, the hope is and kind of the wish is it's easier to teach highly athletic, talented quarterback to take the check down rather than obviously teaching the inverse, which is teaching a non-athletic, non-talented quarterback to rip the ball down the field and be talented. So your hope is long-term. You can get Richardson to play like that. But I did like to see the efficiency. I like to see, and that's what you want out of your backup quarterback. Look, a backup quarterback, when you sign one,

is never supposed to be like, oh, if our starter gets hurt, you can start the whole season for us. Yeah, exactly. It's never supposed to be that. But what it's supposed to be is if our starter has to miss time, because look, it's a 17-game if our starter has to miss time because look it's a 17 game season now last year 70 quarterbacks took snaps in in regular Willis in Green Bay go look at Malik Willis that's what you need out of a backup right right Malik Willis

like Malik Willis is a great example because he's like the perfect example even though it's a completely different offense like he came in one game for them and now he's going back to the bench like that's perfect but even even aside from that like what Flacco just did, like say this is all Richardson misses this year. It's just three quarters of the Steelers game. Flacco could be the difference between making the playoffs and missing the playoffs because he came in, steadied the ship, got some touchdowns and closed out the game. That's what a backup quarterback is for. Backup quarterback is not supposed to do what Minshew did last year or Brissette did in 2019 and all these things where they start a whole season because that's when you're ripping your hair out and screaming. But to be that guy

where if you give them two, three starts, which is very common nowadays with how often starting quarterbacks get hurt, like if you give them two, three starts, as long as they win a game or two out of there and keep you afloat for the playoffs. So your starter can come back and, and, you know, finish the job.

That's what they're supposed to do. So I know that it's going to be a lot of Flacco versus Richardson in discourse this week. And we'll get to that in the next step. Yeah, for sure. But at the end of the day, end of the day,

Richardson came out and played like the starting quarterback Flacco came in, played like the backup that you paid and helped close out a game and keep you afloat for playoff conversations later in the season. I, like, they both did their job perfectly. I mean, again, Richardson, you don't want to get hurt, but, like, they both did their job in this one. And I'm glad it went down the way it did, and I'm happy Flacco got the win. Aside from any kind of discourse that's going to happen, obviously, from all different sides with bad actors and stuff like that. Like, it's going to be pretty brutal with some of this. But at the end of the day, Flacco did his job.

And I'm happy that he's here and was able to showcase why the Colts paid him that contract. Exactly. Yeah. Now, coming up, we are going to we're not going to engage in that conversation, guys. We're not going to engage in that conversation, guys. We're not going to engage in that conversation. We're going to talk about the differences in the styles of offense these two guys play and why the better long-term bet is still Richardson, aside from even age. Even if they were the same age, you still would rather bet on Richardson long-term and why he needs to be the guy no matter what the rest of the season.

But first, hey, NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on fan duel america's number one sportsbook when you get a hunch in the middle of a game you can check out the latest stats view live play by play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets this week fan duel had the steelers as two and a half point favorites with a total point over under a 40.5. Hopefully you guys were betting for a shootout and the Colts victory because you could have won some serious cash there on FanDuel. It was very similar to that Bears game, but actually went the other way where this was, again, just kind of a higher scoring game between the Colts and the Steelers. So you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's at fanduel.com. All right, guys, I'm back here again, as always,

with Ben Boris at Colts Film Room for our Monday Anthony Richardson talk. Again, little abbreviated this time because Joe Flacco played a majority of this game but I don't want to engage in that conversation Ben where should the Colts start Flacco or should they start Richardson because I think that's just silly it's just silly like we've joked about it before on here it's just a very silly conversation but I do want to engage in the conversation in terms of one how the differences are in the offense when both guys are out there and two i saw this really good uh takeaway that bleach report had following the game where bleach report actually said don't take the cautious approach with with anthony richard and by that they meant if richardson is cleared for this next game don't sit him for a week and play flacco

and like richardson needs to get his snaps if he's healthy. And I completely agree with that. And I, I do think there's going to be some people who disagree with that, but I completely agree because at the end of the day, right now with Anthony Richardson, you have very volatile play, but you have the explosives.

You have the run game clicking because of him. Like the run game is clicking big time because of his plus one QB like impact and even just his own ability running in the run game as well. So you have the run game clicking mainly because of him and his impact. You have the explosives. You just don't have the efficiency yet. I think it's easier to get the efficiency than it is to only have the efficiency and not have the run game not to have the explosives and honestly like i know richardson's turned the ball over a little bit but the way that he negates sacks and negates pressure is more valuable

yeah yeah it's more valuable than like like look at this last game for instance and i know the the sample size is very different but joe Flacco came in, 53 plays played. The offense averaged 4.4 yards per play with him out there. Fine-ish, like it's a little low, but fine-ish, 4.4 yards per play. Him and Richardson both faced a similar pressure percentage, but he took a sack on 25% of those pressures, where Richardson didn't take any sacks in his, again, only seven snaps dropping back. So it's a little bit different sampling for sure. Richardson was able to negate

sacks and kind of withstand pressure. Flacco took more sacks. The offensive line was more leaky with Flacco out there. So there was more negatives that way. And then the explosive plays, the Colts had four explosive plays and 13 Richardson snaps. They had four in 53 Flacco snaps. So the explosive plays dropped significantly with Flacco. You got more sacks and pressures converting into sacks against you. And the run game completely plummeted to a halt. Like they had two plus runs with Flacco out there. They had what, three or four with Richardson in 13 plays. Like, if you're just even looking at this one game here, like, Richardson just gives you much more on the offense. Yes, Flacco gives you much more efficiency.

You're going to have a higher success rate on offense with him as your guy out there. But with Richardson, you have everything except for the efficiency. And I understand that's frustrating as hell. Like, you're going to get more three and outs. Your defense is going to get more worn out. And it's not sustainable for a full season.

But this is your young quarterback. And you really have everything except for the efficiency. Like, it's not that far away. It's not that far away. And this game was looking like a really good one from Richardson. So I really want to caution people where I know some people want to at least have the take of Flacco's better for the Colts right now than Richardson is. And to a degree, yes, because it's so different. But like you're talking about efficiency versus explosion.

Like it's just a different style of offense that gets a similar result. Now, the Richardson one is more frustrating. I get it. But like it's also got way more like higher rewards and potential in the future and obviously look he's 22 like you're betting on that but like i want to get your thoughts on this ben because yeah like i could see the conversation for flack will probably get you more wins this year or maybe more points on offense this year i'm not even sure if that's true i don't even know if that's true because, like, the run game grinds to a halt so much without Richardson's impact.

It's built around Richardson, you know? Like, it's tough. Here's kind of my thoughts on it. I understand where people are coming from with Flacco because he's a veteran. You look at what he did in Cleveland with a similar kind of win-now-ready roster. I think you could probably call them young, but potentially win-now with some of the really talented players

that they have on it. And you think, oh, well, you just find the don't-crash-the-car guy, to use the Colin Coward analogy, and we can – and a really good coach, and we'll make it work. And I think that it's really – it's easy to talk yourself into that but then you have to realize so many other things obviously what you got into one with anthony richardson is the run game is so dynamic with him on the football field him and jonathan taylor back there i underestimated it to be completely honest with you yeah like i underestimated the impact he would have because the Steichen offense has never really needed kind of what he did in Philadelphia.

Like Miles Sanders is a good back, but he's not a Jonathan Taylor back. He's not a, you know, what Jonathan Taylor is making type of back. And just their dynamic ability back there really puts defenses in a blender and gives them so many options that way. The ability to not take sacks and help your offensive line out just as much as you hurt them is different with Flacco and Richardson, where like with Richardson, he knows how to evade. He can evade some of these sacks and avoid the negative play. Like I think one of the

plays that he had in the um bears game that was a throwaway where he's off his back foot and getting sacked and he has the arm strength to rip it and avoid the grounding penalty that like we saw tua on the um uh game versus the primetime game versus buffalo um before his pick six and one of his pick six where he just didn't have the arm strength to get that ball out of bounds. So like, there's kind of these little things. I think with Joe, it's a different step. You're not going to, you know, he is, he, he does have some turnover capabilities, but he's, he's got the vet presence to operate this offense and distribute the ball to guys like Josh Downs and Michael Pittman. I think that you see those receivers come alive when he plays.

But with Richardson, you get the big play ability, the competitive toughness. Joe Flacco doesn't, but he gives you – I'll put it this way. Anthony Richardson gives you the ability to take over and win games. He does. It's very early in his career. It has been bumpy as we're getting into this thing. You expect that he gets better and better and better each week. Now, unfortunately, he was injured, so we didn't get to see that. But it was a great start.

It was a great start. And you would think that they'll continue to build off that. I don't think it should be a remote discussion. I think if Anthony Richardson can go and he has the hip pointer and he, and, and you know, they, they say, you know what, he's going to be good to go.

He's not going to miss much time. You know, maybe you take some quarterback runs out of the game plan. Maybe you have to have a more serious conversation about protecting yourself. And while you're kind of just in that one to two week recovery from the hip pointer and you go from there, but I think ultimately he needs the reps. while you're kind of just in that one to two week recovery from the hit pointer. And you go from there.

But I think ultimately he needs the reps. Ultimately he needs the experience. Ultimately this team is better off with him than without him. I don't think that's much of a question. I think Joe Flacco knows that. I think he knows that if he comes in and plays, Shane Steichen is going to put him in a position to really make things happen. I have full belief in all of this. I just think that it's going to come down to staying healthy, obviously. But there's no question that Anthony

Richardson is going to give the Colts the higher ceiling. Maybe the lower floor, but gives the Colts absolutely the higher ceiling. Yeah, I would argue that the colts have a lower floor week to week with richardson than they do with flacco if if this were a real conversation but like over the course of a not a real conversation yeah yeah but over the course of the season i don't think the floor is that much lower just because again if you look at the all-encompassing argument of the overall offense the run game is so much bigger. I mean, look at Zach Moss' splits last year with Richardson and without Richardson. Massive difference. I mean, you could look at it this year already with the splits.

The Colts were number one efficient rushing offense in football going into this game, and they had a great start out the gate. We're averaging a good six yards a carry with Richardson, and then that plummeted down to being a pretty modest like four yards of carry in this game or like a little over four yards of carry like it's just such a different ball game with richardson where once he figures out this efficiency once you get something going on on the short game heck even if the short game doesn't fully come around to being perfect as long as he can deliver shots on third down, the offense will be fine. Flacco wasn't perfect in the efficiency department in this past game,

but he delivered some big throws on third down where Richardson's been a little antsy on third downs this season. If Richardson can just calm down on third down and deliver some strikes, then this Colts offense will be coming going forward. Overall, I fully believe in Richardson. It looked like he was getting off to a great start. It sucks. He got the hit pointer. I'm glad it's only a hit pointer. I know today he's probably in a ton of pain because bone contusions the day after are the most painful things ever. We'll probably get more

of an update on like his overall status and soreness on Thursday. I'm assuming he'll probably get more of an update on his overall status and soreness on Thursday. I'm assuming he'll probably miss Wednesday's practice, and then hopefully limited Thursday full on Friday is my guess. But I think he'll go this week. I think it'll be more of a limited game plan with the running, but expecting some good things against Jacksonville. Man-heavy defense, feed Josh Downs, take some deep shots. It's going to be a fun game, I think. Here's also that I want to point out too,

just because I think it's the elephant in the room that no one's ever addressed with Anthony Richardson. Let's also not pretend that Houston, Green Bay, and Chicago, and now the first start of Pittsburgh, were easy defenses to necessarily start the year with. I think you find two teams that are objectively struggling right now in Jacksonville and Tennessee. You put in that same effort that you always do, and I think that Shane Steichen never overlooks a team in that regard.

And these could be real confidence builders for Anthony Richardson when he's already found. I think the one thing that you can look at overall now that we're four weeks in and a whole month is that like a lot of the mistakes haven't been, oh, you know, we can't get guys open. Defenses are gash, like are disrupting us. Like a lot of it is just like on execution. You go look at the Houston game. You go look at maybe the Chicago game and some of the turnovers. I don't think that the defenses are doing anything all that confusing. It's just brain fart early moments in a quarterback's career.

So I think these could be huge for potential confidence builders games as we get into maybe a really, really tough late October, November. Yeah. Eventually it'll click for him. I really believe that. I know both of us believe that I'm hoping that we're covering it here on these Monday episodes when it, when it does click for him. But I do think eventually it will click for him. Very young quarterback.

Had a good start this past game. Hopefully he can carry that into this next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. But we do want to thank you guys for making Locked On Culture your first listen today and every day. Now for your second listen, go find the new Locked On NFL with two shows every day. First, the Madman Tyler Rowland kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso and then stop by the barbershop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk. Find Locked on NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast.

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