Shane Steichen finally called an offense that works for Anthony Richardson

The Indianapolis Colts broke their three-game losing streak in a narrow 28 - 27 victory over the New York Jets, but the big story was quarterback Anthony Richardson. Fresh off being benched, fans were all waiting anxiously to see how he would perform... and he did well. He ended the game 20-of-30 for 272 yards, two rushing touchdowns, and one passing touchdown. The offense looked revitalized - no surprise there, considering how the locker room reacted to him being reinstated as QB1 - and more importantly, head coach Shane Steichen was finally making play calls that worked for the team.

Steichen has largely gotten off easy this season, hiding under Richardson's issues. Richardson, the youngest quarterback in the league with just 11 starts in his NFL career, was raked over the coals for having problems with accuracy and consistency. He had too many interceptions, made bad throws, and didn't seem ready to lead an NFL team. Those were all fair criticisms.

But then this weekend, Richardson had the best game of his career. He didn't throw a single interception, he was the spark the offense needed, and his completion rating would be even higher if it weren't for several passes dropped by his receivers that should have been caught. Richardson looked like an up-and-coming franchise quarterback who is going to have a long career in the NFL, not a draft bust for the Colts.

So what changed? Was it just the benching that changed Richardson's game?

Yes, it seems like Richardson was better prepared and learned some important messages over the last two weeks. But the bigger change seems to be from Steichen himself, calling plays that finally made sense for the offense that he has.

Steichen has been criticized for how he's run his team, particularly in how he repeatedly put Richardson in no-win situations, trying to force him to be a pocket passer in the veins of Peyton Manning. Rather than leaning on his star running back (Jonathan Taylor), shorter passes, and a zone read offense, Steichen called for Richardson to drop back and attempt deep passes over, and over, and over, and over again. And Richardson likewise failed over, and over, and over, and over again.

Quite simply, Steichen was not playing to Richardson's strengths, and he wasn't making calls to make up for his weaknesses.

That changed Sunday. Rather than calling for countless explosive throws, Steichen focused heavily on running, both with Richardson and Taylor, with the rare deep pass thrown in there. And, to the surprise of absolutely no one, it worked. Richardson thrived, the offense largely worked as a cohesive, well-defined unit, and the Colts won.

Just imagine if this is how Steichen had been running the offense from the beginning.

Anthony Richardson may one day become an NFL legend like Peyton Manning, but he is never going to be Peyton Manning. They are two completely different athletes with different strengths and weaknesses, and Steichen was failing Richardson by trying to force him into a Manning-esque box. This Sunday, he called plays that worked much better for the quarterback he has (instead of, perhaps, the quarterback he wishes he had). Hopefully, Steichen has learned from this; the playoffs are still not out of the question, and if he continues to use Richardson in such a productive way, there's a good chance that the Colts could still be in the hunt.