Anthony Richardson’s Tap Out Is Career Low Point
Source: Jack Gorman / Getty
The Anthony Richardson Experience to this point has been about as disappointing as you could imagine and Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans may have been the Hindenburg.
Not only was he dreadful once again as the Colts offense continues to sputter with him under center but he actually tapped out in the middle of a drive and took a seat on the bench because he was tired. I’ve never seen it before where an NFL quarterback ever voluntarily went to the bench for a non-injury reason. He admitted it, Shane Steichen admitted it, Richardson was just gassed and needed a rest. Does any other player on the roster get that luxury? He didn’t have enough energy to hand the ball off on the next play? How did this really happen?
Sign up for the 107.5 The Fan Newsletter to receive the latest news updates!
Joe Flacco came in and did the heavy lifting, handing the ball off to Jonathan Taylor on a very long third and goal. Richardson laughed off the need to tap out in his post-game press conference but nobody should be laughing about it at West 56th Street today. What you hope to be your franchise QB, who, when he isn’t injured and missing games has looked dreadful for the most part just decided to take a breather in a critical division game mid-drive because he ran the ball three times in a row. That just doesn’t happen unless he believes he has the clout to do that. Ask Joe Flacco how many times he’s voluntarily tapped out of a game when fully healthy. I’m guessing that number is zero. It’s a terrible look for Richardson and a terrible look for the team, who seem to be coddling a guy that is putting up truly heinous performances on the field.
He was 10-for-32 on Sunday, his worst completion percentage (31.3) of the season in a gotta have it division game. His lone game above 50-percent completion has an asterisk because he completed 3-of-4 against the Steelers before leaving with an injury. He’s been inaccurate, he’s been careless with the football, he’s missed multiple games again and now he’s voluntarily subbing himself out of games and potentially fracturing his teammates’ confidence in him going forward. How is an offensive lineman like Quenton Nelson going to be giving it everything he’s got on every play and then see his starting QB run to the sideline for a rest? You think Nelson gets that treatment or even wants it? Hell no.
Richardson thought running around against the Texans was tough, imagine how gassed he’s going to be when Brian Flores and the Minnesota Vikings are dialing up all of these exotic looks and blitzes on Sunday night. He’ll have nowhere to hide with a national spotlight on him. The Colts are going to roll with Richardson all season if he remains healthy but he is completely taking advantage of the situation if he thinks he can’t be benched. Given his performances this season I’m not sure another starting QB gets as long of a leash that Richardson has received but it’s because the Colts invested the fourth overall pick in him and have got to see, for better or worse, what they have in him.
As of now, he has had a brief flash here and there but not a single consistently impressive performance from the start and end of a game that makes you optimistic he can find a groove and start developing as a legit NFL quarterback. He’s regressed greatly all season and in the most important game of the season he was at his worst and then checked out of the game to top it all off. The narrative on Anthony Richardson is already being written and talked about nationally. It’s only going to ratchet up even further on Sunday night if he has an encore performance for the rest of the country to see.
