This week, the Pittsburgh Steelers face another team with a great running game in the Indianapolis Colts. The Steelers’ focus will likely be on stopping the run once again, especially because Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson has really struggled to start the year. Richardson is in his second NFL season, but a shoulder injury robbed him of most of his rookie season. Therefore, analyst Steve Wyche believes the Steelers aren’t concerned about Richardson winning the Colts the game.
“[Richardson] better jump out of his head starting on Wednesday and get ready,” Wyche said recently on NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal. “You’re gonna see some base four-man looks. They’re probably not gonna do anything crazy in a passing situation to heat him up a little bit.
“The fact that he’s completing less than 50% of his passes, I don’t think [the Steelers] are nervous at all, especially with Minkah Fitzpatrick on the back end.”
That’s not bad logic from Wyche. Richardson’s stats do not look pretty, even outside of his low completion percentage. He’s already thrown six interceptions, most in the NFL. He’s also fumbled twice.
To put the completion-percentage issue into perspective, last year, rookie Will Levis had the lowest completion rate among starting quarterbacks at 58.4 percent. That’s almost 10 points higher than Richardson’s number. It isn’t a stat that usually shouldn’t hold too much weight, but in Richardson’s case, it is particularly ugly.
In fact, the last time a quarterback finished a season with a completion percentage under 50% was Tim Tebow in 2011. Steelers fans likely do not have fond memories of one pass Tebow did manage to complete that year. That goes to show that a quarterback can win a game despite not completing a ton of their passes.
Richardson is a much better athlete than Tebow. He’s got a bazooka for an arm, which makes him a threat deep down the field. He’s also a very gifted runner, which could come into play against the Steelers. His big frame could make him hard to bring down, and paired with running back Jonathan Taylor, the Steelers could be in for a long day.
Wyche is correct that the Steelers have players who can take advantage of Richardson’s poor accuracy. Fitzpatrick is one of the league’s best ball hawks. The Steelers have several players in their secondary who already have interceptions this year as well. They’ve had a decent nose for the football, and they could make Richardson pay for any errant throw.
The Steelers probably care more than Wyche makes it seem though. Their defense didn’t get to where it is by taking opponents lightly. They’re aware of Richardson’s struggles, but they’ll still be prepared for him to be better. They aren’t automatically guaranteed to create some turnovers just because of some stats. They’ll work hard in the game to make that a reality.
