1. Inside the numbers of Anthony Richardson's deep shots.

Anthony Richardson slipped at the back of his drop, re-gained his balance, avoided pressure to his right and went bombs away to wide receiver Alec Pierce in the first quarter of Sunday's season opener against the Houston Texans. The pass landed in the hands of Pierce for a 60-yard touchdown, who barely had to decelerate on his sprint toward the south end zone at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Richardson again went bombs away toward Pierce, who boxed out Texans safety Jimmie Ward to haul in a 57-yard reception on a do-or-die third-and-15.

It wasn't just that Richardson completed passes of 60 and 57 yards. It was that the ball traveled in the air for all but maybe two or three of those 117 total yards. Both those throws traveled more than 55 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, which is where we'll start here.

In the last 10 seasons, Richardson is one of six quarterbacks to complete multiple passes that traveled at least 55 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. But there's more: Per Pro Football Focus, no quarterback in at least the last decade has completed multiple of those passes in the same game.

These throws are, generally, awfully low-percentage ones. Allen's two completions have come on 11 attempts; Aaron Rodgers in that span completed one (his famous game-winning Hail Mary against the Detroit Lions in 2015) on 10 attempts. In total, there've only been 23 completions where a receiver's been targeted 55 or more yards downfield since the start of the 2015 season on 101 attempts (Completion percentage: 22.8 percent).

Richardson finished his 2024 debut with nine completions on 19 attempts for 212 yards, making him the first quarterback since the Cleveland Browns' Brian Hoyer in 2014 to throw for over 210 yards while completing single-digit passes. He became the second Colts quarterback to hit that stat line, joining Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, who went eight of 16 for 270 yards with four touchdowns in a 45-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys in 1960.

Now let's flip it around to who caught those two deep balls.

Over the last 10 seasons, players with multiple receptions when targeted at least 55 yards downfield:

1. Alec Pierce

That's the list.

Something notable here is Pierce's skillset – specifically, his downfield speed and ball-winning ability – certainly look like an asset for Richardson. Over the last 10 seasons, Richardson is responsible for the Colts' two highest single-game average depth of targets: Week 4 vs. Los Angeles in 2023 (13.5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage) and Week 1 of 2024 (17.3). Pierce, in that game against the Rams last year, caught a 38-yard strike from Richardson, who threw it while being wrapped up by all-universe defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

"If I just put the ball in a decent spot for him and allow him that 50/50 chance, I feel like AP is going to go up there and get it," Richardson said. "So I've got major faith in him going up."

2. Some perspective on Anthony Richardson's two misses to Adonai Mitchell.

Richardson and the rookie wide receiver were unable to connect on two plays that could've been touchdowns. Mitchell flashed open behind Stingley on a first-and-10 at the Texans' 29-yard line in the second quarter, but Richardson's pass landed out of the end zone.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Mitchell hit an out-and-up move to flash open down the far sideline, with Richardson's throw landing just barely out of reach about 50 yards downfield.

"We're obviously still working on the connection, but coach Shane's gonna dial it up like he always do and it's up to the 11 on the field to always go out there and execute," Mitchell said. "The best is yet to come."

Missed deep shots will happen, though – that's what Steichen emphasized after the game, and he's right. The difference with Richardson is when he misses, it doesn't suck the life out of a team. For other quarterbacks, throwing incomplete toward a receiver running open down the field might feel like an offense missed its only chance to hit a downfield pass in a game. Richardson can fire off explosive throws even if he doesn't get the perfect look, have the perfect pocket or – as we saw Sunday – even have the perfect footing.

For Richardson, there always will be more opportunities because his athletic ability and remarkable arm strength allow him to access throws other quarterback's can't. Case in point: Four plays after Richardson and Mitchell couldn't link up in the fourth quarter, Richardson ripped a throw over the middle to Ashton Dulin, who dashed into the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown.

"I don't think anyone loses confidence in those things," Steichen said. "You're going to take your shots. When you got them, you try to hit them, but you're not going to hit every single one of them. We got a ton of confidence int hose things going forward, even if some of them are missed."

3. The Colts kept a lid on Houston's passing offense, for the most part, but were reminded the NFL is a precision league.

C.J. Stroud had just two completions of 20 or more yards on Sunday, this after he totaled 11 in two games against the Colts during his rookie season. The Colts worked to limit explosive plays through the air and force Stroud to drive the Texans the length of the field, hoping their front four could create drive-killing pressure at some point.

And while the Colts did sack Stroud four times, there were a few moments where Houston either escaped or succeeded by an inch.

Stroud was tagged with two "turnover-worthy" throws by Pro Football Focus on Sunday – just the fourth time in 16 career games the 2023 No. 2 overall pick had multiple of those plays. Both came on the same drive, Houston's first of the second half.

The first came when a possible screen play was blown up by pressure from defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and defensive end Kwity Paye. Stroud side-stepped Buckner but then, with Paye in his face, floated a pass toward three Colts defenders along the near sideline. Cornerback JuJu Brents leapt for the ball and caught it, but his back heel landed out of bounds. The pass, after initially being ruled an interception, was overturned to an incompletion.

The second was on a play-action shot a few plays later. Wide receiver Tank Dell ran a deep post, but cornerback Jaylon Jones was on his hip every step of the route – Dell was hardly open. Stroud threw the ball anyway, and Jones swatted it away – but laid on the turf with his head down, frustrated he didn't pick the pass off. Jones said Monday he jumped too early and felt like he should've came down with what would've been his first career interception.

Instead of turning the ball over at either of those instances, the Texans retained possession and ended the drive with a 51-yard Ka'imi Fairbairn field goal, putting them up, 15-7.

"It's a precision league," Brents said. "Game of inches. We saw that Thursday when the Chiefs played. Literally like a toe barely out of bounds, same with my pick. Jaylon (with the) ball — inches. Game of inches. It's a precision league. When those plays come, you just gotta execute."

Jones, to his credit, felt like he could've made a play on Stroud's critical third down completion to wide receiver Nico Collins just after the two minute warning. But Stroud on Sunday framed the throw, which was completed with Jones draped all over Collins, differently.

"The DB kind of played it well," Stroud said. "They say that there is no – what do they say? 'No perfect defense for the perfect throw,' or something like that. Kudos to the Colts. They are a great, well-coached team. They flew around today – they changed up some looks that we didn't think we were going to get. They made us drive down the field (and) be methodical."

4. Ashton Dulin's touchdown was fantastic to see for both him and the Colts' wide receiver room.

The Colts were without Josh Downs (ankle) against the Texans, but depth of Reggie Wayne's wide receiver room came through in a big way. Specifically, Dulin – who played in his first regular season game since 2022 – delivered with his catch and sprint for a 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"Ashton works so hard and he's doing all of our dirty work, whether it's teams or he's blocking," wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. said. "It's always great to see him get something like that."

Dulin, who missed the entire 2023 season with a torn ACL sustained in training camp, mostly worked with the Colts' second-team offense during this year's camp. But when Richardson saw him streaking across the field, he knew he had to find a way to get him the ball.

"That wasn't even the route that we wanted to hit right there," Richardson said. "I just saw the (coverage) and I saw him running full-speed, and I was like, I've got to give him the ball, and he did the rest."

While Dulin mostly has been a dirty work/special teams guy over his six seasons with the Colts, his versatility and speed both were missed in 2023 – and will be important for the Colts in 2024.

"The one that we missed most was Ashton Dulin just because he did so much," general manager Chris Ballard said back in March at the NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando. "He can play multiple spots. He does the dirty work. And then if you have to start him you can still play winning football. Losing Ashton during camp last year, that sucked."

5. Segun Olubi made a game-changing play on special teams.

Since Brian Mason took over as special teams coordinator in 2023, the Colts have accounted for three of the NFL's nine blocked punts – two last year against the Tennessee Titans, and one on Sunday against the Texans.

With the Colts trailing, 15-7, in the third quarter, linebacker Segun Olubi knew either he or linebacker Grant Stuard was going to have a chance to block Tommy Townsend's punt deep in Houston territory. Olubi was the one who came free, and he screamed off the edge for a clean block, which the Colts turned into a Jonathan Taylor touchdown on their next play.

"It's everything, man, because now you feel like, okay, I gave my guys an opportunity to go do what they need to do," Olubi said. "We needed points in that moment, having that block, boom, set us up for points, get some energy to Lucas, it's a great opportunity."

Olubi, with his block against the Texans, became another Colts linebacker to make a game-changing play on special teams. It was Stuard who came free for the first of two blocked punts against the Titans last year; before him, EJ Speed (2020) and Zaire Franklin (2021) both notched punt blocks.

For Olubi, a 2022 undrafted free agent who's worked to carve out a role on special teams, the message from the guys who came before him was simple.

"I've literally been right where he was, and I just tell him to keep going, keep his head down, keep focusing," Franklin said. "I think it really speaks to the talent in our room. Personally I think this is one of the most underrated rooms we've had from top to bottom. And whenever the boys are able to make a play on special teams, nothing turns me up more. I was glad to see Shay get that big play in the game. That was a monster play in the game."