Anthony Richardson suffers a devastating loss

HOUSTON – The Colts unlikely had a chance.

But Anthony Richardson's inconsistency ultimately led to Indianapolis suffering a 23-20 loss, leaving the Texans (5-3) firmly in control of first place in the AFC South and Indianapolis (4-4) wondering how it should get its youth quarterback goes.

Anthony Richardson has big problems

The Colts always knew Richardson would be a work in progress.

But Indianapolis needs to start seeing more from its young quarterback.

Richardson completed just two of 15 passes in the first half, one after a Texans coverage error that left Josh Downs all alone on the left side of the field for a 69-yard touchdown.

That being said, the Colts' starting quarterback struggled in his second year. Richardson shot accurately on the team's first series, but the Texans' defense blocked four of his five attempts, and as the half progressed, Richardson's accuracy and decision-making skills suffered, culminating in a series of disastrous events at the end of the first half.

Hard moments: Reaction to Colts Anthony Richardson's struggles against Texans

With a minute left, the Colts got the ball back and asked Richardson to throw twice, and after Kwame Lassiter nearly deflected a throw to Michael Pittman Jr. on second down, Richardson threw late on third down and the Texans secured Jalen Pitre slid for an interception on downs and set up a 7-yard touchdown pass to Tank Dell on the next play, giving Houston a 17-10 halftime lead.

Richardson's passing numbers improved slightly in the second half.

The Colts quarterback completed 8 of 16 throws but fumbled the ball on a turnover with Jonathan Taylor in a crucial third period, knocking Indianapolis out of field goal range on one series and out of field goal range on another Game After being agitated, CBS reported that Richardson left the game because he was “out of breath.”

Richardson did get Indianapolis back into the game by directing a touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter, but his mistakes earlier had put the Colts behind, and on the final drive of the game, Richardson missed three passes before the Hail, Mary

Shane Steichen's aggression gets the best of him

Throw to score, run to win.

That's Steichen's offensive philosophy, which he laid out at his opening press conference.

The Colts head coach has relied on it too often in a season where rushing numbers have increased across the NFL. Steichen was back to full strength in the running game and had Taylor available on Sunday, and Taylor responded with his third 100-yard game of the season, rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Most of these transfers occurred in the second half.

Indianapolis threw explosive plays through the air in the first half and kept asking for shots even though Richardson was struggling.

The Colts continue to avoid asking Richardson to play with his legs on designed runs, something Steichen promised to do in the offseason. Richardson threw just six carries for 45 yards and got most of his yardage on scrambles rather than stressing the Houston defense with targeted runs.

The Colts defense was let down by the Indianapolis offense

Indianapolis' defense was far from perfect.

Joe Mixon rushed for 102 yards on 25 carries, and CJ Stroud was able to throw for 285 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

But the Indianapolis defense made Houston work hard for its points, limiting the Texans to just two touchdowns, with one of those points coming on a rushing touchdown after Richardson's interception deep in its own territory.

Aside from a touchdown drive and the final stop, the Colts defense repeatedly limited the damage.

Indianapolis sacked Stroud only twice, but the pressure often got to him on key third downs, and defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo made the play of the day, ripping the ball away from Mixon on the field to give the offense a chance to get involved little to score with more than two minutes left.

The Colts offense instead went out of bounds three times, and then Indianapolis stuffed Mixon on three consecutive plays to give the Colts offense one last chance to win the game and ultimately failed.

Anthony Richardson suffers a devastating loss

Anthony Richardson has big problems

Shane Steichen's aggression gets the best of him

The Colts defense was let down by the Indianapolis offense

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