I would not under any circumstances book air travel RIC-PHL-EWR. Both flights are micro-hauls given to routine delays/cancellations, especially the latter which is approximately 12 minutes from wheels up to down.
Amtrak between RIC and WAS is a fairly miserable experience as well although once you get north of WAS you are on decent trains.
If your wife doesn't mind the drive and can handle doing this outside of rush hours, this is by far the preferred method for this route, if you really need an EWR departure (any way to avoid that?)