Richardson showed he has a strong arm but lacked consistency in the Colts’ loss to the Texans

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Quarterback Anthony Richardson showed everyone Sunday what the Indianapolis Colts learned when they drafted him — he is one of the NFL’s most powerful players.

The former Florida star also learned how much he still needs to improve.

Though Richardson threw two touchdown passes of more than 50 yards and broke through the Houston defense with a late three-yard run in the opening game of his second professional season, it wasn’t enough to snap the Colts’ winless streak in Week 1.

“I want to be a better player, so I criticize myself all the time,” Richardson said after the 29-27 loss. “We were very confident we could come here and win, especially at home. We have more games to go and more chances to win.”

Richardson’s roller coaster provided plenty of fodder for fans and critics alike.

He looked spectacular on his third over of the game, 60 yard laser to Alec Pierce running, despite slipping on the Lucas Oil Stadium turf as he retreated. He looked equally impressive on a 54-yard throw to Ashton Dulin in the second half and a 57-yard throw to Pierce that set up his first scoring drive of the season to pull the Colts to within two points with 2:14 left.

In addition to those three throws, he was 6-of-16 for 41 yards and one costly red-zone interception. He also missed two additional potential scoring throws to wide open receivers.

Though he ran six times for 56 yards, including the game-winning fourth-down run, and occasionally slipped, he was sacked twice, sometimes missed his receivers by a wide margin, and he hit his head hard on the turf in the first quarter when Mario Edwards Jr. threw him to the ground in the first quarter, knocking Richardson’s helmet off his head.

The play could reignite debate about whether Richardson was better protected after missing 13 games and starting only one of the four he started due to various injuries.

Richardson was in the starting lineup — and finished the game equaling his previous season’s tally — and was not short of a goal.

“I love physical football,” he said. “It’s part of the physical game. Some people say it should be a flag. I don’t know.”

All he knows is that Sunday’s performance wasn’t good enough.

Yes, Richardson finally ended Indy’s streak of seven consecutive seasons with a different opening-day starter at quarterback, failing to snap the league’s longest active Week 1 winless drought. That’s 11 in a row dating back to 2013.

And if the Colts hope to end their three-year playoff drought, Richardson must be on the field for more than 43 plays and 20 minutes in total, with 2021 league runs champion Jonathan Taylor needing to step up his game.

All of that would help the defense stay fresh, something it failed to do on Sunday, and that’s not just Richardson’s job.

“You can put that on me,” coach Shane Steichen said when asked about Taylor’s workload. “Like I could have generated more runs. I think we had 19, I don’t remember how many runs we had, but we’ll look at those things and we’ll clean them up and learn from tough, close games like this.”

If the Colts can fix that and Richardson improves his game, the Texans know how much more difficult their road to defending their AFC South title could be.

“We made the plays we needed to, but not good enough, right?” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We have to eliminate the big plays. That’s when you give up big points, that equals points.”