INDIANAPOLIS — The season-opening drought has reached a ridiculous 11, and it would be so easy to point an accusatory finger at Anthony Richardson.
As everyone expected as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft made just his fifth NFL start Sunday against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium, there would be some incredible highs and some debilitating lows.
The byproduct: a 29-27 loss to the reigning AFC South champions.
For the first time since 2000, the Colts had three completions cover at least 50 yards: a 60-yard touchdown and 57-yard completion to deep threat Alec Pierce and a 54-yard TD to special teams phenom Ashton Dulin.
On the 60-yarder to Pierce, Richardson dropped back, slipped, regained his balance and rocket-launched a pass that covered 65.3 air-yards, according to ESPN’s Next Gen Stats.
“There’s not many guys that can do that,’’ coach Shane Steichen said of the throw.
Added wideout Michael Pittman Jr.: “There’s just things he can do that others can’t.’’
Like that long-distance chuck to Pierce.
“That’s something that can’t be taught,’’ Pittman said.
Still, it seemed for every highlight snippet, there was a reminder the face of the Indianapolis Colts still very much is a work in progress.
Richardson completed a lackluster 9-of-19 for 212 yards, and too often missed opportunities to do something even more special than he wound up doing.
“Like I’ve said guys, he’s going to miss some throws, just like all these quarterbacks in the league will miss some throws,’’ Steichen said. “But we’ll get them cleaned up.’’
But before we dive into Richardson’s year two debut, which was equal parts exhilarating and exasperating — he led Indy in rushing with 56 yards and one TD on six attempts — let’s point an accusing finger in the proper direction.
One of the cornerstones of the Colts — their run defense — was left in shambles by Joe Mixon and the Texans.
Mixon used bursts and cutbacks to gouge the Colts for 159 yards and one TD on 30 carries. It was the most damage done by a back since Derrick Henry’s 178 in November 2020.
The Texans piled up 213 on the ground, the sixth-fattest yield in the Chris Ballard era (since 2017).
It was the first step taken by a defense that saw Ballard reinvest heavily in his up-the-middle defenders — more than $80 million in guarantees for linebacker Zaire Franklin and tackles DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart and free-agent signee Raekwon Davis.
The defense had no answers during the game, or after it.
“They just did a good job of putting us in tough situations,’’ said Franklin, who was credited with just four solo tackles.
“They did a great job of rushing the ball today,’’ added Buckner. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting off blocks.
“Yeah, too many busts.’’
The inability to deal with Houston’s run game contributed to the C.J. Stroud-led offense piling up a staggering 76-43 edge in total plays.
“That’s not enough for us,’’ Richardson said. “We didn’t execute enough.’’
Some of the lack of execution rested with Richardson.
There were more than a few errant passes in critical situations, and several involved rookie wideout AD Mitchell.
— a high delivery to Mitchell on fourth-and-1 that ended the Colts’ first possession at the Houston 46-yard line. The route was crisp and the target begged for a first-down converting strike.
— a sailed pass over Mitchell’s head in the second quarter that would have been one of the easiest 29-yard TDs in Richardson’s brief career. Mitchell was running by himself after hitting the cornerback with a double move.
— another overthrow to Mitchell early in the fourth quarter that would have been another walk-in TD, this one covering 70 yards. That was somewhat eased four plays later when Richardson hit a crossing Dulin in stride for the 54-yard TD.
And let’s not dismiss the only target of the day to a tight end. Late in the second quarter, Richardson’s delivery to Kylen Granson was intercepted by Texans safety Calen Bullock. Granson slipped coming out of his cut, but the pass appeared to be another of those high, hard ones.
“I don’t really know,’’ Richardson said. “I guess the ball sailed a little too high.’’
The quarterback should have been better, more efficient.
No question, but anyone who’s been paying attention understands the learning curve Richardson and the Colts are dealing with.
Sunday was just his 18th start since high school.
“I thought he made some big-time plays for us,’’ Steichen said.
That included carrying at least two Texans defenders across the goal line on fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line to bring the Colts to within 29-27 with 2:14 remaining.
“Shane called the play,’’ Richardson said. “It was a gotta-have-it situation.
“He told me, ‘We’ve gotta have it. I had to just find a way.’’’
Steichen adamantly agreed.
“We’ve gotta make the plays when it mattered.’’
The Colts made a slew, including getting a 5-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Taylor following Segun Olubi’s block of a Tommy Townsend punt.
Pierce matched a career high with 125 yards on just three catches.
But the Texans made more when it mattered. That included Stroud clinching the game by hooking up with wideout Nico Collins for 12 yards on third-and-11 at the two-minute warning.
Steichen was quick to point out the tenuous nature of the NFL.
“Yeah, I mean, this is the NFL, right? It’s going to be a lot like this,’’ he said.
One-score games.
Of the league’s first 11 games, including Thursday and Friday night’s, eight were decided by eight points or fewer.
“You saw it tonight. You saw it Thursday night with the catch, the (toe),’’ Steichen said. “I mean, this is the NFL. It comes up like this, week-in and week-out.
“It’s going to come down to these one-score games a lot of times, and we’ve got to take advantage of them when it happens.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter/X at @mchappell51.
