Saturday's 28-20 loss at Worcester Warriors kept the Falcons pinned to the foot of the table, and was the fourth defeat of the new campaign.
London Irish have also yet to record a win, but have better points difference.
"We're a much better side than that, there's far more to come out from us," Richards told BBC Newcastle.
"We haven't quite got our attack sorted out yet and our defence is all over the place - if we got one of those sorted out it wouldn't be a problem.
"The defence was woeful in the first half and oddly we won the second half 3-0, but I'm frustrated more than anything."
Saturday's game was the first in which all of the World Cup duty players had been available, with Argentina centre Juan Pablo Socino restored to the starting line-up.
However, not even his introduction helped, as errors continued to plague the Falcons' attempts to end their pointless run.
"At half-time it was about getting it right and understanding where we had gone wrong defensively - which was one-on-one tackles and a few ill-discipline issues, such as lifting the leg in the line-out five metres from their line," said Richards.
"Those things made a big difference, and we're doing it week in, week out and it's the same people who are doing it unfortunately."
Newcastle Falcons are yet to show their true potential after a "frustrating" winless start to the Premiership, says director of rugby Dean Richards.