Anthony Richardson took his fair share of shots during Sunday’s loss, and it’s a fair question of whether some of the more egregious ones should’ve been rightfully flagged.
According to head coach Shane Steichen, the Indianapolis Colts are seeking to have at least a few of the borderline “unnecessary rough” hits from Houston Texans defenders on starting quarterback Anthony Richardson reviewed by the league from Sunday’s loss (via The IndyStar’s Joel A. Erickson):
Steichen says the Colts want a couple of hits on Richardson, specifically contact above the shoulders, looked at (by the league, presumably)
— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) September 9, 2024
There were at least a few highly debatable unnecessarily rough-worthy hits on Richardson that really stood out from Sunday’s game.
The biggest being when Texans defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. body slammed Richardson on his helmet (which then popped off) onto the Lucas Oil turf during a sack on 3rd and 6 in the closing minute of the first quarter—when the Colts 2nd-year starting quarterback was already clearly going down without any needed “extracurricular” force:
#Colts QB Anthony Richardson on this sack, in which he was slammed to the turf and his helmet popped off:
“It’s football, and I love physical football. … Some people are saying it should have been a flag, but I don’t know. It’s just football to me.” pic.twitter.com/PmiP7poKgX
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) September 9, 2024
However, there’s another example of the Texans defenders also arguably ‘head hunting’ and later a helmet-to-helmet hit that Richardson withstood along the sideline—that teammate All-Pro offensive guard Quenton Nelson was visibly upset about:
Anthony Richardson withstands an arguably unnecessary helmet-to-helmet hit versus Texans: pic.twitter.com/DGnL0sdC1u
— Luke Schultheis (@LuckAtLukeVines) September 10, 2024
It’s not hard to see why Steichen and Colts fans are a little upset about the lack of officiating to protect their franchise quarterback, especially given how much the league has tried to protect the position collectively. Had it been Patrick Mahomes or even C.J. Stroud instead, would the officials have treated the Edwards’ body-slamming sack the same (i.e., done nothing again?). We’ll never know for sure…
Richardson was limited to just 4 starts as a rookie in 2023, largely because of a season-ending shoulder surgery, but also because of a concussion (suffered on the road against the Texans during Week 2). So you can’t blame the Colts for wondering where the flags were for what they saw as unnecessary roughness on Richardson at least a few occasions.
