Richardson's rocky start proves costly in 2nd straight home loss as Colts fall to Lions 24-6

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Richardson showed the Indianapolis Colts a little bit of everything Sunday.

He provided some promising glimpses and took advantage of the strong arm that wowed NFL scouts when he played at Florida. Then there were the errant throws, unnecessary risks and inconsistencies that led to his benching three weeks ago.

Not all of Sunday's miscues were Richardson's responsibility.

Indy committed a season-high 10 penalties, had multiple drops and struggled to do much on the ground except for Richardson's own nifty runs.

The combination led to a predictable result — a 24-6 loss to the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions and the kind of encore Richardson didn't envision after rallying the Colts to a Week 11 win when he reclaimed Indy's starting quarterback job.

“We lost, so it wasn't good enough,” Richardson said when asked to grade his own performance. “We've just got to get back to the drawing board and we've got to get into the details and just be better as a whole.”

The corrections must begin by improving their red zone efficiency as they did in the previous week's 28-27 victory over the New York Jets.

But against a Super Bowl contender such as the Lions, the season-long challenge of sustaining drives and getting into the end zone proved problematic again. It's the reason Indy (5-7) has lost two straight home games and four of five overall as its playoff hopes fade.

And Sunday's game didn't provide much hope things will change.

The most glaring error came in the second quarter when tight end Drew Ogletree allowed a pass to glance off his hands on the goal line two plays before Indy kicked its second short field goal. Had Ogletree caught the pass, Indy would have taken a 10-7 lead.

Instead, the Colts trailed 7-6 — and didn't score again.

It was only one of a number of setbacks.

One play after receiver Ashton Dulin failed to get both feet inbounds on what appeared to be a long catch down the sideline, Richardson was nearly sacked for a safety then lost the ball. Fortunately for Richardson, the officials ruled his arm was going forward erasing what would have been a fumble recovery for a TD.

And Josh Downs had a long pass play that might have jump-started the offense in the third quarter erased when Alec Pierce was called for offensive pass interference.

For the Colts and Richardson, it was that kind of day.

“We were there in some tough situations with him,” coach Shane Steichen said. “You know, first-and-20, second-and-long. Those are hard to overcome sometimes, but I thought he battled crazy throughout the game as hard as it was.”

While Richardson's numbers again weren't terribly impressive — 11 of 28 with 172 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks and 10 carries for 61 yards — he needs more help than he got Sunday when the rest of the team accounted for just 35 additional yards rushing.

That's not good enough for any quarterback to get the job done, especially one with only 12 career NFL starts.

Now, though, Richardson faces a different kind of test. Indy has five games left and only one of those — Denver — started Week 12 with a winning record. It's a combination that should give Richardson a chance to show what kind of progress he's made — and whether he's heading in the right direction.

“Playing quarterback you've got to be able to maneuver in the pocket make the pocket work, regardless of what's going on up front, just finding lanes to get the ball to the receivers," Richardson said. “But Detroit has a great defense and they did a great job of bringing those guys. But I feel like I could have made some better plays right there.”

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