Shane Steichen made an era-defining blunder after Colts bench Anthony Richardson

The Indianapolis Colts appear to be done with the Anthony Richardson project after just a handful of games in his second season. In doing so, they make have resigned themselves to more mediocre results as they ride the quarterback carousel once more in the offseason.

Just a few days after Richardson completed just 10 of his 32 passes in a loss against the Houston Texans (and then compounded the disappointment by asking out of a play due to exhaustion), Richardson has been relieved of his starting duties. He has been benched for Joe Flacco, who will start in Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Colts invested the No. 4 pick in Richardson, and after 11 starts, they seem to be pressing pause on this new era to roll with an aging quarterback who won't be with the team next year. This sounds like Shane Steichen is trying to save his job in a year where no one is threatening to can him.

The Colts signed up for an occasionaly bumpy road as they developed the raw Richardson. Steichen is now in the process of abandoning a quarterback who has finished just seven career starts, and is younger than top quarterback prospects, like Carson Beck, in the 2025 class.

Shane Steichen makes massive mistake benching Colts QB Anthony Richardson

While comparing Richardson to Bills star Josh Allen seems foolish, both of them were extremely raw players who were drafted exclusively based on their bazooka right arms. Allen was given the time to work through his struggles, while Richardson has been sent to the bench as he works through his struggles.

Richardson started for one year at Florida and 10 games in the pros. He is just 22 years old. He is not a finished product. Steichen may be right if he says Flacco gives them the better chance to win right now, and some veterans may not care about Indy's future, but Richardson's potential still far exceeds anything Flacco can provide.

While he deserved to be held to task for his decision to remove himself from a game for one play, Steichen is masterfully avoiding any responsibility for this move. Rather than tweaking his offense to incorporate more quick passes for Richardson or use the one-of-a-kind athlete as a runner more often, Steichen has thrown Indy's future into turmoil.

Contrary to what Steichen believes, his tenure won't be extended by this move, nor would it necessarily be shortened by sticking through Richardson. The Colts could have been patient, but they decided to chase instant football dopamine by benching their franchise quarterback.