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Despite Anthony Richardson's ugly outing, Colts outlast Bears, avoid 0-3 start

23 September 2024Last Update :
Despite Anthony Richardson's ugly outing, Colts outlast Bears, avoid 0-3 start

INDIANAPOLIS — The Chicago Bears snuffed the play out. As Indianapolis Colts running back Trey Sermon took a handoff from quarterback Anthony Richardson, the Bears defense immediately smacked him in the backfield. Three yards stood between Sermon and the end zone when he was stood up on second-and-goal late in the third quarter Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, yet he kept his legs churning.

The officials still hadn’t blown the play dead, so Sermon’s teammates helped him keep it alive. The first person to put a hand on Sermon’s back was his quarterback. Richardson, followed by a slew of Colts, pushed Sermon until he finally surged past the goal line.

“You gotta find a way to do something to help the team out if you’re not gonna pass the ball correctly,” said a grinning Richardson, who endured one of the worst games of his short career Sunday. “I was just trying to find a way to help the squad.”

Sermon’s touchdown, his first as a Colt, was crucial in Indianapolis’ 21-16 victory over Chicago and No. 1 pick Caleb Williams. Richardson was all smiles afterward, gleefully praising Sermon and the rest of his teammates while also acknowledging he didn’t really hold up his end of the bargain.

Richardson tallied a few explosive plays, like a 44-yard dart to Alec Pierce in the second quarter and a 40-yard completion to Kylen Granson a few minutes later. However, for the most part Sunday, Richardson didn’t look like an NFL franchise quarterback. Not even close. He was erratic, inaccurate and unstable, especially on the “layup” throws that no NFL quarterback can be successful without.

“Man, I don’t know,” Richardson said, asked why he struggles on seemingly simple passes. “Man, I’ve just gotta settle down and just let the ball spin. I’ve just gotta give myself time and give myself some grace. I’m so hard on myself when I’m missing passes out there because it’s like, ‘Man, I don’t want to miss any passes.’ Stuff like that’s going to happen, but I don’t want them to happen. I’ve just got to play better.”

Richardson finished 10-of-20 passing for 167 yards with two interceptions. Colts coach Shane Steichen took the blame for the first one, chalking it up to a bad play call in the second quarter on third-and-goal from Chicago’s 3-yard line. Richardson tried to squeeze a pass in to wide receiver Ashton Dulin, but it was tipped and picked off in the end zone.

The second one was more egregious, as Richardson airmailed the ball over wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. on the first play of the second half. Bears star cornerback Jaylon Johnson easily picked it off as if the pass was meant for him.

“We just keep working through it,” Steichen said. “We’ve got to keep working through it. Again, I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him. We just have to keep getting the repetitions in practice and keep getting it going.”

Whether Richardson, who’s now thrown six interceptions in three games this year, can become more precise and protect the ball remains to be seen. But Sunday, just as Richardson (literally) had Sermon’s back on that third-quarter TD, the rest of the team had his back throughout the entire game.

Jonathan Taylor led the way, totaling 135 yards (23 carries for 110 yards and one catch for 25 yards). He found the end zone twice, highlighted by a 29-yard run in the second quarter that also included an assist from Richardson.

“They brought some pressure right there, and when I handed it to him, I told him the nickel (cornerback) was coming,” Richardson said. “So, he jump-cut inside real quick and made a decision, and just ran.”

Taylor’s breakaway run helped secure his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game. The last time he did that? When he won the league rushing title in 2021.

“It just says a lot about the team and the trust that they have in you,” Taylor said of his workload. “But it also has you locked in and laser-focused because you know like, ‘Hey, we’re trusting in you, so get the job done.’ But that’s what you work for. You work for the trust of your coaches and your teammates.”

One unit that stepped up alongside Taylor — and needed to — was the defensive front. After giving up 474 rushing yards through the first two games of the season, the most any team has surrendered in the first two games since the 1978 Colts, Indianapolis finally fought back. Granted, the Bears weren’t a juggernaut on the ground coming into Sunday’s game, but Indianapolis certainly didn’t give them a chance to start feeling like one. Chicago managed just 63 rushing yards on 28 attempts (2.3 yards per carry).

“We had just a real realization that we had to come to as a defense about who we was gonna be and how we was gonna be perceived in this league,” linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “Just the idea that we was just gonna let people run the ball on us at will was just unacceptable, bro. It took a lot of reflection on everybody’s part, myself included.”

Chicago’s inability to run resulted in Williams throwing it 52 times. He completed 33 of them for 363 yards, but he also tossed two interceptions — each one brought in by Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones.

Through his first 19 NFL games, the second-year pro didn’t snag an interception. On Sunday, he had one in the second quarter and one in the third quarter. Both were near the sideline and required “toe drag swag,” as Steichen likes to call it.

Jones played wide receiver in high school and jokingly credited that for his footwork. But he also thanked his teammates, like Franklin, who told him he was “destined” to make a big play after Texans wide receiver Nico Collins hauled in a near impossible pass on him in Week 1 that sealed a Colts loss.

On that play, Jones got a fingertip on the ball. On Sunday, he was in better position.

“It’s a very precise league,” Jones said. “I appreciate my vets staying in my ear, staying in my corner.”

And, together, staying in this season.

An 0-3 start would’ve put Indianapolis’ playoff hopes on life support, but the Colts found a way. Rookie defensive end Laiatu Latu provided the finishing touches, a strip-sack of Williams in the fourth quarter that led to his team’s final touchdown, a 1-yard plunge by Taylor.

“It doesn’t start out great for everybody,” Latu said of the 2024 season, already sounding wiser than his years. “But as long as we’re building off this win, it boosts our confidence a lot. We’re not living too much into the wins, though. Now we’re just focused on the Steelers and trying to beat them.”

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(Photo: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)

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