Colts’ Anthony Richardson Needs Turnover-Free Performance vs Giants

The Indianapolis Colts are nearly at the .500 mark on the year, sitting at 7-8 after an AFC South victory over the Tennessee Titans. However, Jonathan Taylor stole the show with an incredible 218 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

While Taylor feasted, quarterback Anthony Richardson barely needed to lift a finger as a passer, going 7/11 passing for 131 yards, one touchdown to an interception. While he added on nine carries for 70 rushing yards and a score, there are still things the young field general must continue to clean up.

He gets a fantastic opportunity against arguably the NFL’s worst team in the Giants at MetLife. With that on the dome, it’s time to predict the passing and rushing metrics for Richardson on Sunday if he can overcome his questionable tag with a back/toe injury.

Passing

The Giants are a bad team, but their defense is the undisputed strong point of Brian Daboll’s squad. Even minus defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, this team still fights when they play, and Richardson must be ready. Names like defensive edge Brian Burns (52 pressures, eight sacks) can still cause issues for New York’s stop troops.

However, the Giants aren’t the same defense in pass-rush without Lawrence (36 pressures, nine sacks), so Richardson will likely have time. Also, New York is abysmal at forcing interceptions (three as a team), so Richardson might get off the turnover snide at MetLife (five picks thrown in the last three games). The Giants can’t defend the run at all, so expect Indy’s field general to operate behind another Taylor-led attack where he’ll prove efficient as a passer; especially if he’s playing with a sore back/foot.

Passing Prediction: 11/18 (61.1%) for 158 passing yards, 2 Touchdowns, 0 Interceptions

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Rushing

The Giants have a capable passing defense (seventh – 200.5 yards allowed per game) but are disgusting against opposing ground attacks (31st – 142.6 yards allowed per game). Given that there is no longer a Lawrence to worry about on the interior, Indy must rinse and repeat the strategy against the Giants they implemented against the Titans. However, Richardson may be dialed back if he’s playing sore.

There isn’t much stopping the Colts from a ground-and-pound approach, so expect Taylor to get another 20-25 carries; Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson may also get involved. Given Richardson’s size and ability to score around the goal line, he has a unique shot at still creating scores with his feet. While I don’t think the Colts eclipse 300 team rushing yards like in Week 16, I think Richardson will eat and possibly have seconds in the red zone.

Rushing Prediction: 7 carries for 44 rushing yards (6.3 average), 2 Touchdowns

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