Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts takes the blame for the loss to the Houston Texans

The Indianapolis Colts had a unique opportunity to establish themselves as a real threat in the AFC South yesterday against the Houston Texans.

The Texans suffered a brutal loss to the Green Bay Packers and struck on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, the Colts earned a win over the Miami Dolphins and Jonathan Taylor and DeForest Buckner returned from injury.

Taylor was his usual electric self, rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown. Buckner and the defense did their job limiting the Texans' running game for most of the day and pressuring CJ Stroud throughout the contest. But the Colts failed, falling to the Texans 23-20, giving Houston the season win, the tiebreaker and a two-game lead in the division.

And Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen are the triggers of the disappointing defeat.

“I mean, it hurts,” Richardson said after the game. “You don't want to lose, especially not in the division, not in this league, you don't want to lose.” It definitely hurts to take those L's. But you learn from them. It's nothing more than a lesson. We know what we have to clean up. Execution must be our top priority. We just have to play better.”

As is usual with Richardson, the box score doesn't tell the whole story. Richardson went 10 of 32 (31%) for 175 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 45 yards on six carries.

Richardson started the game quite well despite numerous incompletions. The quarterback delivered the ball right on target to his receivers, but dropped it and failed to hold on to two-foot inbounds, forcing Richardson to a 1-of-5 start.

But from the jump, Steichen gave his big-armed quarterback the shots he needed. Richardson tested the Texans' defense several times in the first half. Aside from a 69-yard touchdown to a wide-open Josh Downs on the third drive of the game, most of the shots were unsuccessful.

“There were options,” Richardson explained. “We knew they would try to stop some of the deep throws, but they played it to us. We liked our matchup, we like our receivers to be open, we have that. “I just have to make it happen at the end of the day.”

After Richardson's unimpressive performance on the field and Steichen as a game manager last week, many thought the Colts would move toward a different passing attack with an emphasis on quick throws to get Richardson into a rhythm and keep the offense efficient. But the Colts continued to look for the big play, which led to incompletions and third-and-longs.

As they failed to execute the shooting plays, Richardson became frustrated and began to apply pressure. His throws became less accurate and his decision-making worse as the Texans increased the pressure. It culminated in a terrible decision to end the first half when Richardson telegraphed a throw on downs that was intercepted by Jalen Pitre deep in Colts territory. Stroud found Tank Dell for a touchdown on the next play.

“We were looking for a certain look right there, but they didn't really give us that look,” Richardson explained. “So I finished the play, I checked on him, and they just played a good zone right there, so he was pretty much my only target right there. I thought I could fit it in there, but the nickel did a great job. “I jumped under it, so I have to give him some props.”

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The Colts looked much better after halftime as they changed their plan of attack. Indy leaned on Taylor and the running game while challenging Richardson to make quicker throws for easy completions.

But something mysterious happened on the second drive of the second half. After back-to-back plays in which Richardson struggled in the backfield to escape pressure while trying to make something out of nothing, Richardson retired on third down. Many thought he had injured himself while tackling, but it was a completely different problem.

“I was tired. I’m not going to lie,” Richardson explained. “That was a lot of running I did and I didn’t think I would make it to the next game.”

It's hard to remember a quarterback who wanted to be taken out of the game because of fatigue. The third-down play ended with a handoff to Taylor, so Richardson wouldn't have been involved in the play anyway. But that's beside the point.

Richardson leaving the game is an incredibly bad idea for a quarterback who has struggled all season and is already facing criticism for staying on the field. With teammates like Taylor, Buckner, Downs, Michael Pittman Jr. and Braden Smith battling injuries and having to play every week, Richardson can't demand to be substituted just because he's on trial. While the impact on the game was minimal, the message it sends is terrible.

Richardson returned to the game after coming on and calmed down in the second half. The Colts managed to get within three points, but it wasn't enough as the pass rush kept catching Richardson and sacked the quarterback five times on the day. The Colts had a chance to win the game on the final drive, but poor clock management by Steichen and Richardson sealed the Colts' fate.

It was another week of inconsistent play from the quarterback and poor playcalling from the head coach. It's alarming that Richardson and Steichen have regressed in year two, making fans even more concerned about the future of this team.

“It’s my job to find ways to make that happen,” Steichen said of improving Richardson’s consistency. “I need to get better at that in the future to make it work.”

“I definitely could have played better today,” admitted Richardson. “I definitely could have played the ball better. I definitely could have done some better checks. I could have played better. I definitely understand that. … I just try to keep growing and getting better.”

Although Richardson and Steichen took most of the blame for the loss, they weren't the only Colts offense that didn't live up to their standards. Aside from Taylor and Downs, Richardson didn't get much help from the rest of the offense. Drops were prevalent throughout the game, while the offensive line was manhandled by the Texans' pass rush. Do the Colts also have competent tight ends on the roster?

The loss only counts as one in the grand scheme of things, but the loss feels much worse. Richardson continues to struggle to make progress. Steichen continues to put his young, developing quarterback in difficult situations. And even though the season is only halfway through, the Colts' playoff chances appear to be dwindling.

“We just have to keep working at it,” Steichen noted. “(Richardson) has a good work ethic. “He struggles through these things. It's a process. We do it together. This thing is together. This isn't about one guy. This is about the team, and it will always be about the team.”

The team looks to its head coach and quarterback for answers and is met with great disappointment. After a while, people get tired of excuses and want to see actual results. Otherwise, the experiment may have to end sooner than anyone wanted.

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