Throughout this season’s playoffs, rivalry games and high-profile quarterback matchups have taken center stage. In the AFC, alone, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, as well as Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, en route to another Super Bowl appearance.
Those were the matchups that everyone wanted to see. The best teams and the best players facing off for a chance to win the Super Bowl. Indianapolis Colts linebackers Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed, on a recent episode of their podcast, The Trenches, explained how excited they were to watch the games as fans. However, they went on to explain how they were even more excited to be a part of these big rivalries moving forward.
Speaking about the quarterback matchups of Mahomes vs. Allen and Jackson vs. Mahomes. Zaire Franklin interjected and made it clear that he’s ready to see Anthony Richardson vs. Patrick Mahomes, passionately declaring that Richardson is coming for Mahomes.
EJ Speed then jumped in and said that Anthony vs. CJ Stroud will be the key matchup for Indianapolis and that he’s glad he gets to be apart of it.
Zaire is just like all of us pic.twitter.com/K7dpyJIW9j
— John (@colts_report) January 27, 2024
Colts looking forward to Anthony Richardson being in big quarterback matchups
Even though Anthony Richardson only played 173 snaps over four games as a rookie before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, all signs point to him becoming a player in the quarterback conversation. His dual-threat ability quickly proved to be a problem for opposing teams and head coach Shane Steichen is an offensive wizard. If Richardson can stay healthy, he’ll likely be in these games as soon as next season.
The Colts essentially already played one without Anthony Richardson. Indy faced off against CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans in Week 18. Both teams entered the game 9-7 and the winner of the game would ultimately be AFC South Champions and go to the playoffs. It was a close game, that Houston won, but Richardson was missing. As he works to get healthy all offseason, the plan next year will be for Anthony Richardson to lead the Colts to victory in those games.