The Indianapolis Colts are living and dying by the cannon right arm of young quarterback Anthony Richardson. While he may never be as surgical as Drew Brees, Richardson may have a legitimate claim to the titles of most athletic quarterback and strongest arm in the NFL.
The Houston Texans, who are supposed to line up across from Richardson for the next 10 seasons if everything goes as planned, found out the limits of Richardson's arm; in that there are no limits. Richardson may have lost to Houston, but he made his mark in his contest.
Richardson amassed 268 total yards (212 passing) and three touchdowns in Indianapolis 29-27 loss to the Texans, one of which was a 60-yard bomb to receiver Alec Pierce. According to Next Gen Stats, Richardson's pass travelled 65 yards in the air, making it the third-longest completion of the Next Gen era.
Colts backup quarterback Joe Flacco, who made his name as a strong-armed mortar tower (with about 50 times less athletic ability) with the Baltimore Ravens, was in awe of the pass. Flacco was caught admiring the pass on the sideline, claiming that he had never seen a pass go that far in the air.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball thrown that far in a game.”@JoeFlacco wasn’t kidding when he said that to @GVOaant. 👀 https://t.co/PA7PbeeA3q pic.twitter.com/HHCuzng3Pu
— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2024
Joe Flacco awed by Colts QB Anthony Richardson's TD pass
Richardson was always going to be a work in progress, but throws like that are exactly why he went No. 4 overall despite some poor production around him. Richardson is already a top-shelf athlete, and his aggressive mindset lets him attempt and complete daring throws like that.
With a quality underneath target in Josh Downs and a vertical playmaker in Adonai Mitchell alongside Michael Pittman Jr, Richardson is well-equipped to go into attack mode. Even after his injury, the Colts are willing to let him rip it all over the field.
Still, he didn't have a perfect game against the Texans. Richardson's completion percentage was just 47.5% against Houston, and he only managed eight completions outside of the deep shot to Pierce. Getting the ball out quickly and accurately will be what separates Richardson from quarterbacks like Justin Fields that have all the physical tools, but a lack of refinement.