With two minutes, 41 seconds left on the clock at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones walked toward quarterback Anthony Richardson on the sideline.

The Colts defense had just held the New York Jets to a field goal, making the score 27-22 and giving the Colts the ball back with plenty of time for a scoring drive of their own. However, it had to be a touchdown if the Colts wanted to break their three-game losing streak.

So Jones only had one thing to say to the Colts’ QB1.

It was the verbal representation of what everyone on the Colts sideline was thinking. They all knew that Richardson was fully capable of leading such a drive — Richardson had led the Colts on two touchdown drives earlier in the game — and that the young quarterback wouldn’t shy away from the big moment. So Jones simply reassured Richardson that his teammates had all the confidence in the world in him, just as they always had.

Richardson proved their confidence was in the right place as he led a six-play, 70-yard drive that ended in the 22-year-old rushing in for his second rushing touchdown of the day. That drive proved to be the game winner and Richardson, upon his return after a two-game absence, finished with a career-high 272 passing yards and a touchdown, as well as 32 rushing yards and those two rushing touchdowns in the Colts’ 28–27 victory .

“It was great to see him out there doing his thing,” defenseman Kwity Paye said. “Everyone was behind him all week and cheering him on. He already knew what to do, it wasn’t like it was anything new to him, so he got his chance back and went out and was executed.”

“He was working all day,” cornerback Kenny Moore II said. “I feel like he was on fire. And just seeing him play at that level and with that ability, he brought a lot of confidence to the defense.”

Richardson exuded and spread confidence, but he also brought a sense of calm; The quarterback said Sunday was the most relaxed he had felt during a game. He was focused on the task at hand – standing up for his team – and nothing else.

“He says, I’ve got you, I’m going to deliver the play, everyone needs to be where they need to be, we’ll make it happen,” running back Jonathan Taylor said. “When you have a quarterback like that, especially a young quarterback, and he can understand that, and he can perform like that in moments like this, everyone around him just has to do his job and we just have to make sure we do that doing.” there for him.”

“For a guy that young, you never really see him get upset,” tight end Mo Alie-Cox said. “With him out there, even all the other games we lost, we just feel like we have a chance to win with him just by his behavior and the way he behaves. He has that will, he doesn’t want to lose.”

Richardson’s refusal to get upset or overwhelmed helped his teammates as much as it helped him, with perhaps no one benefiting more than wide receiver Josh Downs, who finished the game with five receptions on five targets for 84 yards and a touchdown.

“It also helps us because if you can keep up the drive, you can achieve more goals,” Downs said. “When you play more in a drive, there are more objectives and more routes run, so you’re just in the flow of the game.”

But while Richardson’s “typical” quarterback play – his touchdown pass to Downs and 39-yard completion to wide receiver Alec Pierce comes to mind – certainly set the Colts sideline on fire, it was his signature and atypical style of play that really set his teammates apart. thought. their feet and further strengthened their confidence in him.

Because how often do you get a 6-foot-4, 244-pound quarterback who can run as well as he can throw the ball? And how many times does he drive into the end zone not once, but twice? The answer is almost never. So when Richardson stiff-armed one defender and leaned over the other to get into the end zone for the Colts’ first touchdown of the day, his teammates could only run from the sideline to congratulate him.