Anthony Richardson delivered a message in the middle of the Colts' locker room on Sunday after his team secured its first win in 2024, a 21-16 victory over the Chicago Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"Hey, I'm gonna perform better for y'all boys," Richardson said, his head swiveling to make eye contact with as many faces as possible. "I got y'all. But great team victory."
From the assembled crowd of Richardson's teammates, someone interjected: "We're behind you, brother."
Richardson's message to his teammates came after he threw two interceptions – including one in the end zone – and completed 10 of 20 throws with a passer rating of 39.0. His teammate's message to him came after, late in the third quarter, Richardson quite literally was behind the Colts.
With the Colts leading, 7-3, late in the third quarter, running back Trey Sermon took a handoff from Richardson on second-and-goal from the two-yard line. Sermon bounced the run to his left and was hit in the hole at the three-yard line by veteran safety Kevin Byard III.
Sermon kept his feet moving, though, and a stampede of Colts rushed to create a rugby scrum. Sermon, ultimately, ended up in the end zone for a critical touchdown. And the first guy to pick up on the opportunity to push Sermon into the end zone didn't go unnoticed to the rest of the Colts.
"I think Anthony might've been the first one there," left guard Quenton Nelson said. "I saw him there, I was like, I need to over there."
Richardson was soon joined by tight end Mo Alie-Cox, wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., left tackle Bernhard Raimann, left guard Quenton Nelson and tight end Drew Ogletree to push Sermon, who kept churning his legs to keep the officials from blowing their whistles to signal a stop of forward progress. Nine of the Bears' 11 defensive players ultimately rallied to the scrum; the Colts' strength overpowered them, getting Sermon the yards he needed for the touchdown.
You can barely see Richardson in the photo of the scrum, with so many other bodies around him:
"Five (Richardson) got in there on that one," running back Jonathan Taylor emphasized. "I think that's something even more special, you have a quarterback who will get his nose in there when it's time."
The time was on Sermon's goal-line run, with all 250 pounds of Richardson helping the running back across the goal line for a much-needed score.
"That's just a testament to the type of guy he is, the type of teammate he is," Sermon said. "By any means he wants to help this team win. So that's throwing a pass, running it in or pushing me, it's just a testament to him and what a great leader he is."
Richardson hit a few explosive passes – 44 yards to wide receiver Alec Pierce and 40 yards to tight end Kylen Granson – but otherwise wasn't able to consistently connect with his targets. In the absence of that, though, Richardson's mentality was to dig deep and figure out whatever way he could to help push his team – literally and figuratively – past the Bears on Sunday.
"You've got to find a way to do something to help the team if you're not going to pass the ball correctly," Richardson said. "I was just trying to find a way just to help the squad."
Head coach Shane Steichen took the blame for Richardson's first interception, which came on a third-and-goal play from the three-yard line in the second quarter. The play was designed to beat man coverage, but the Bears were in zone; Richardson's fluttering pass landed in the arms of linebacker Tremaine Edmunds for the pick.
"I'll take that one," Steichen said. "They're playing Cover-2 there and we're trying to get man down there. We're in big personnel (the Colts had three tight ends on the field). They played a shell defense. There was nothing open – that's on me."
Richardson's second interception came to open the second half when he sailed a throw over the head of Pittman, who had plenty of green grass around him.
"It's always frustrating when I'm missing and pointing to the other team," Richardson said. "I'm hitting them right in the chest, and it's like, 'Bro, you're throwing to the wrong person.' So it's like, I've just got to do better, man. I'm going to do better. I'm going to clean it up for the team."
Richardson, who's thrown six interceptions through three games, said he's not pressing. In the case of his second interception, he said he got "too excited" when Pittman flashed open, and "I've just got to let it spin and give him the ball."
The 22-year-old Richardson – who's still the youngest starting quarterback in the NFL – immediately took responsibility for both his turnovers yet never lost confidence. His teammates, again, noticed.
"We don't say anything to him — he came right over after the interception and he was like, I'll be better," center Ryan Kelly said. "That's a young quarterback, I've only been more impressed with him every single day he's been here. The adversity he goes through, how hard he is on himself and how much he pours into this team, we pour right back into him."
This is how even after a two-turnover, completing-half-his-passes afternoon, the Colts walked away from Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday even more confident in their starting quarterback. Richardson knows he has to play better – no team has made the playoffs while completing under 55 percent of its pass attempts since Andrew Luck's 2012 Colts (54 percent) – but he has the sort of work ethic, mentality and, of course, outrageous athleticism that inspires belief from Steichen on down to his teammates.
But on Sunday, Richardson showed the Colts that even if he's not as his best, he'll do whatever he can for his teammates. Even if that means helping push a mass of humanity for three yards until the turf beneath his running back's feet changed from green to blue.
"He'll do anything to win," Nelson said. "I haven't seen that a lot from quarterbacks where they want to get in the scrap, they want to be in the scrum, they want to help their teams by any means — not just throwing the ball, not just running the ball, but being an ultimate team player."
