Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season could not have gone more differently for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Indianapolis Colts. The two teams face off in Week 2’s edition of “Sunday Night Football.”
The day before, the Chiefs delivered a dominant 31-10 victory over the Denver Broncos on “Monday Night Football,” while the Colts surrendered over 500 yards of offense in a 41-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
For their part, the Colts gained only 251 total yards while surrendering two turnovers and two sacks.
Even after a showcase performance by his own unit against Denver, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo does not expect the Colts’ first game to reflect what they can bring.
Any time he prepares for the Colts, Spagnuolo is wary of star running back Jonathan Taylor, who gained 121 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns against Baltimore.
“He’s really good,” Spagnuolo observed before Thursday’s practice. “One thing we have to do is try to bottle him up. When he gets to the edge…he’s really good. If you remember from the game a year ago, it was a short-yardage play that he popped. He’s tough to catch, so trying to get him bottled up and not let him hit a seam north and south would be really good.”
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones was middling in his first game back from an Achilles tear late last season. Spagnuolo expects better from the veteran.
“We can’t be deceived by this quarterback, thinking he’s a statue,” the coach remarked. “He’s a really good athlete, too. And they have option football in their game; their coaches do a really good job of it.”
Spagnuolo believes Jones makes Taylor a more dangerous back.
“When Daniel Jones and Taylor are playing together,” he explained, “Taylor plays really well because you have the threat of the quarterback throwing it, so they’re dual threat in that regard… I’m not deceived by the fact that they didn’t have a great game last week.”
The Chiefs also expect the Indianapolis defense’s veterans to rebound after an embarrassing opening week. Their defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo, also has a long track record of finding creative formations to thwart the Chiefs’ offense.
“If you look at their defensive line, their safeties, their corners,” noted quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday, “they have really good football players or linebackers. So, they’ll have a lot of pride, and they’ll come out with the right mentality. They won a lot of football games last year off their defense, and Coach Anarumo is one of the best defensive coordinators I’ve went up against.”
