RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Everyone remembers the infamous snap Anthony Richardson took to kickoff the QB competition in Baltimore. You know, the one that set Twitter on fire that night?
Anthony Richardson running it. pic.twitter.com/806Bewbrvz
— Colts Film Room (@ColtsFilmRoom) August 17, 2026
It’s very rare that a preseason play would cause this much debate. After all, the preseason is as vanilla as it gets. But Anthony Richardson took a lot of heat, literally and figuratively, for not seeing the free runner and taking a massive shot in an exhibition game. Most people blamed Richardson’s lack of understanding of the protection, while others quietly wondered if this was a poor play design. Well, the Colts ran it again this year.. And this time it was an interception.
This is a base play from the Colts. They run it at least once a preseason game. Choice + Snag Basic as a backside concept. Same play that AR got hurt on in Baltimore last year. Going to do a larger breakdown on this play for @StampedeBlue pic.twitter.com/nLVYGuPsL6
— Colts Film Room (@ColtsFilmRoom) August 17, 2026
Let’s breakdown the play further, and why potentially it’s given the Colts some trouble.
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN RICHARDSON RAN IT IN BALTIMORE?
There’s a lot of philosophies to handling pressure from a defense. You can try to block it up or you can invite the pressure and throw hot no matter what. The Colts historically have gone with the former.
On the Baltimore play, the Ravens are running a very common pressure called Whip Fire Zone.
The idea is to get the OL to slide one way, and bring an extra rusher from the weak side. So why was AR not looking at the free rusher? The Colts decided to slide to the side of the QB’s first read. There’s nothing illegal about this, but it sure makes it harder on the QB. The first read on this play is the choice route, so in order to be the most protected in the opposite direction in where the QB’s looking, you want to slide away from that side.
As the Colts ran it in 2024, it’s on Anthony Richardson to know he’s hot in 5 man protection and throw to the back on the other side of the field, like many other QBs in other systems would.
A variety of systems would handle this a variety of different ways. It was a blurry rep at best.
WHAT HAPPENED IN NEW ENGLAND?
The Colts pair this concept with a motion from the Z receiver to try and get a tell on the defense. The safety travels with the Z receiver motioning to the other side of the field. Before the ball is snapped it looks like weak rotated Cover 3. Whether this is a true pure progression read that always starts with the choice, or Richardson is working away from the perceived rotation pre-snap, he starts with the choice. Notice this time the Colts are sliding away from the choice. This makes me think it’s probably a pure progression read.
The Patriots at the snap bail into a Cover 8 (Cover 2 to passing strength, Cover 4 away) look and the field corner is squatting on the choice route. It’s a really good rep from the Patriots defense.
I don’t know if the Colts give the QB the option to the throw the hole shot, or they ask the QB to progress to the Snag side, but in my opinion, I’d like to see Richardson progress off the choice. Yes the ball needs to be caught, and it’s a fine throw, but also into quasi double coverage.
BOTTOM LINE
If nothing else, it’s absolutely fascinating that two of Anthony Richardson’s most controversial preseason plays came on the exact same concept. Given how we’ve seen the Colts re-design the play in 2026, it appears like the staff felt like in 2024 they should have slid away from the first read. It’s also possible that Anthony Richardson in year 3 has more autonomy to dictate the slides.
Either way, I don’t think this is a call that Shane Steichen will go-to if Anthony Richardson sees in action in 2026.
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