The Indianapolis Colts are at home to take on the Tennessee Titans in week 8 of the 2025 season, kickoff is at 4:25 p.m. EST.
Last week our Colts dominated a good LA Chargers team. The game was never as close
as the 38-24 final score would indicate. That said, the game was not without it’s concerns. The depleted Colts secondary allowed Justin Herbert to throw for a career high 420 yards and three touchdowns and there were large swaths of the game that felt like the pass rush didn’t do enough. That’s not to say the front four weren’t playing well, they applied pressure on a little more than 57% of Herbert’s drop backs (that’s very good), it’s just that Herbert threw 55 passes, which means he had a clean pocket for something like 24 drop backs. So this could have just been a matter of circumstance and ultimately the numbers are what they are, even if it was frustrating at times to watch, only three teams in week seven pressured the quarterback at a 50% rate and Indy was one of them.
This week the opponent isn’t of the same quality as those Chargers. The Titans are a little more than a week removed from firing their head coach and whether the phenomenon is real or imagined the Titans failed to receive the in-season bump in play that so often follows the firing of a head coach, when they lost in blow-out fashion to the New England Patriots. Having said that, rookie quarterback Cam Ward played the best game of his young career, throwing for 255 yards and a touchdown on 74% passing.
I’m not going to tell you that the Colts are going to lose this game because Cam Ward threw one touchdown (and a pick) last week, but I am going to tell you that for a team with very serious concerns at cornerback, this game could be uncomfortably close.
Ultimately the Titans will be without several stars (stop laughing, Jeffery Simmons is a star on all 32 teams) due to injury and even in Cam Ward’s career best game he was sacked five times and averages more than four sacks taken per game. The Titans offense is still ranked dead last in both yards gained and point scored and defensively they’re not much better. This is a bad team. The 2025 Indianapolis Colts are a very, very good team.
I’ve been watching Colts football since Jim Harbaugh was the starting quarterback. I saw every single Peyton Manning snap in Indy. I once shaved my full beard into an awful neck-beard just so I could match Andrew Luck (10/10 would do that again) and I’ve never seen a Colts team like this. The offense is elite and the defense (when healthy) is better than average. These are the seasons NFL fans live for and we’re in the middle of one. This week’s game should be a blowout.
I’m not going to tell you this is a potential trap game, but we all know it is. Under no circumstances should this game even be close but if you listen to any Super Bowl winner they’ll all tell you the hardest thing to do is to come back from that success, lock in, and go do it all again. After someone climbs a mountain, human nature tends to dictate that, that person lets their foot off the gas. The Colts haven’t won anything yet but they’re (rightfully) receiving a lot of praise from the nationwide NFL media. So the question becomes, will they let their foot off the gas or will they keep climbing the mountain?
My prediction is that this team is locked in. I think they are focused and I think they’re going to come into this one and take care of business. Jonathan Taylor will have a big day, Daniel Jones will be good again, Tyler Warren will continue to look like a rookie of the year candidate and the offensive line will bully anyone brave enough to line up across from them. But there’s a reason they play the games. We’ll see what happens.
Prediction:
Titans: 24
Colts: 34
As always, go Colts.
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This is your week eight open thread so hang out here, chat, celebrate, commiserate, and argue in the comments! Go wild (within reason)!
Go Colts!
