Anthony Richardson struggles again as Colts fall to Texans 23-20

HOUSTON (AP) — Another tough game by quarterback Anthony Richardson doomed the Indianapolis Colts in a 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Richardson completed just 10 of 32 passes for 175 yards with a touchdown and an interception to snap a two-game winning streak and put the Colts (4-4) further behind the first-place Texans (6-2) in the AFC South.

He also raised eyebrows with an explanation for why he left the game for a play before a field goal in the third quarter.

“I was tired, I ain’t gonna lie,” he said. “That was a lot of running right there. I didn’t think I’d be able to do that next play so I told them I needed a break right there.”

Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen said this week that they’re simply looking for growth from their young quarterback from game to game.

It was hard to see much of that Sunday as Richardson struggled to move the offense for most of the game amid heavy pressure. The fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft was sacked five times and hit another eight.

The performance came after he managed just 129 yards passing in his return from a hip injury last week, but the Colts made two fourth-quarter field goals to get a 16-10 win over Miami.

Steichen was quick to defend his quarterback Sunday, saying that everyone needs to do better.

“We’ve just got to keep working through it,” he said. “He’s got a good work effort. He grinds through these things, it’s a process, and we’ll do it together. This ain’t about one guy — it’s about the team. It’s always about the team.”

Richardson has completed just 44.4% of his passes this season. But the dual-threat QB brushed off criticism of his completion percentage.

“I feel like I’m a great passer,” he said. “I’ve been playing quarterback pretty much my whole life. I’m just a different quarterback from everybody else so people are going to try to point out that I’m not as efficient as everybody else. It’s cool to me.”

He later seemed to compare himself to Michael Vick when referencing his completion percentage.

“They say Vick didn’t have a great completion percentage his first couple of years, and he was probably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever do it,” Richardson said. “So, I don’t necessarily look at numbers. I look at each play for itself because I don’t have the ability to control every single thing every play. I can only control what I can control. If my numbers are low, that just means I’ve got to pick them up and play better.”

Vick’s completion rate as a rookie was 44.2%, but he played just eight games with two starts that year. He completed at least 50% of his passes in each of the next five seasons.

Richardson completed just two of 15 passes in the first half as the Colts fell behind 17-10 by halftime.

One of those completions was a big one though. He found Josh Downs wide open for a 69-yard touchdown that put the Colts up 10-3 in the first quarter.

He couldn’t do much after that, but Jonathan Taylor helped move the offense with 20 carries for 105 yards and a score in his return after missing three games with an ankle injury.

Taylor said it’s important for the Colts to support Richardson as they try to get their offense going.

“We just have to let him know… we have your back,” Taylor said. “This is not just a one play, one-game thing. We’re in it for the long haul, we have a goal that we want to achieve, and it’s going to take all of us — every single one of us, every single day giving it their all.”

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Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Houston. The Texans won 23-20. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) breaks a tackle by Houston Texans defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Houston. The Texans won 23-20. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) is sacked by Houston Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter (55) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson reacts after an incomplete pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

SAO PAULO (AP) — Voters in Brazil’s biggest city, Sao Paulo, on Sunday reelected mayor Ricardo Nunes following a tumultuous campaign that had pitted him against a leftist ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Nunes, who received lukewarm support from former President Jair Bolsonaro in the campaign, distanced himself from the far-right leader in his victory speech.

Nunes, who inherited the mayorship after Bruno Covas died of cancer in 2021, had almost 60% of the vote to secure another four years on the job, election officials said. He topped lawmaker Guilherme Boulos in the runoff which followed a first round of voting on Oct. 7.

The reelected mayor did not mention Bolsonaro as one of the people who helped him win and championed Sao Paulo Gov. Tarcisio de Freitas, an ally of the far-right leader. The former president's conservative base was split in Sao Paulo by Nunes and Pablo Marçal, who narrowly lost a place in Sunday's runoff.

Nunes thanked “the biggest leader, without whom we could not have had this victory, and that's governor Tarcisio de Freitas.”

Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo, said both Lula and Bolsonaro suffered defeats in the various mayoral elections held in Brazil.

“Neither have a positive tally in these elections. Bolsonaro was hidden in several places. Wherever he appeared too much, he lost,” Melo told The Associated Press.

“Lula lost the myth that he can transfer votes," he added. "It isn't that simple, these are different times. His administration might do relatively well in the economy, but it doesn't thrill anyone so far. The president had a big bet in Sao Paulo, in the city of Natal, and did not win.”

Earlier, Gov. de Freitas added another chapter to the metropolis' troubled election. He claimed during a press conference, without providing evidence, that police had detected an endorsement of Boulos by criminal organization PCC.

Boulos, who frequently accused Nunes of harboring members of the criminal group in his administration, said in a press conference the governor should be arrested for his comments during the vote.

The leftist candidate said he was not going to deliver “a loser's speech” after Nunes' victory.

“We lost an election, but in this campaign we recovered the dignity of Brazil's left,” Boulos said. The federal lawmaker will be under pressure to leave his Socialism and Liberty Party for Lula's Workers' Party after the election.

Most of the attention in this year's municipal elections in Brazil has been on Sao Paulo, where the first round of voting was marred by episodes of violence. Boulos, a longtime housing advocate for the poor, had his second consecutive defeat in the race.

Other Brazilian cities with more than 200,000 registered voters were also holding mayoral elections.

In Rio de Janeiro, incumbent Mayor Eduardo Paes was reelected in the first round for his fourth, non-consecutive term. Paes, an enthusiastic fan of Carnival, had Lula’s support but focused his campaign on local issues against Bolsonaro’s candidate, Alexandre Ramagem.

Brazilians were also watching closely for results in Belo Horizonte, one of the country’s biggest cities, where Mayor Fuad Noman beat pro-Bolsonaro candidate Bruno Engler.

The vote in Fortaleza, another of the nation’s biggest cities, was a dead heat between the candidate from Lula's Workers' Party, Evandro Leitão, and pro-Bolsonaro challenger André Fernandes. Leitão won by less than 1%.

Follow AP’s Brazil coverage at https://www.apnews.com/hub/brazil

FILE - A view of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a signing ceremony of a compensation agreement for damages caused by the 2015 collapse of the Mariana dam owned by the mining company Samarco, a joint venture of Vale and BHP, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)