The Indianapolis Colts (2-2) overcame a sloppy start to beat the Washington Commanders (1-3), 30-13, in London in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to begin playing .500 football for the first time in the 2026 season.
In particular, the Colts and starting quarterback Daniel Jones got off to a dreadful start, as Indianapolis had only 1 offensive yard collectively its first three offensive drives.
Jones had one of the weirdest fumbles you’ll see on the Colts opening drive, after starting left tackle Bernhard
Raimann got ‘blown up,‘ and Indianapolis, collectively, with a banged up receiving corps and surrendering constant interior pass pressure, couldn’t muster much of anything offensively early on.
After the shaky Jones inexplicably threw an interception off his backfoot under pressure to Commanders veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas with 9:59 left in the second quarter, the Colts’ first 5 offensive drives were a fumble lost, 3 punts in a row, and then the Douglas interception, which obviously, won’t get it done.
Fortunately, the Colts defense bent, but did not break during that same period of time, only allowing two field goals on the Commanders two opening drives (*the first on a short field) and were aided by the fact that Commanders starting quarterback Marcus Mariota (knee) left early in this one, with Washington 3rd-string quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis taking over the rest of the way in relief of Mariota, beginning with 5:20 left in the first quarter.
For the Colts offensively, star running back Jonathan Taylor, who’s now the NFL’s all-time leading in scorer regarding international football, had 20 carries for 95 total rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns, while Indianapolis mixed in backup running back Seth McGowan more, who had 6 carries for 31 total rushing yards, purely to help limit some of Taylor’s workload throughout the long season.
Passing wise, Jones completed 19 of 34 pass attempts for 143 total passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and an interception and a fumble lost, while veteran wideout Laquon Treadwell led the Colts in receiving with 5 receptions for 42 total receiving yards. While Jones settled down a bit, he was not very good in this one.
Defensively, the Colts were largely good going against the Commanders rookie third-string quarterback. Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner deserves a lot of credit for his constant hustle, impact, and pass pressure, as he kept Indianapolis in this one defensively early on until the offense finally settled in midway through the 2nd quarter. He had 4 tackles (2 solo), a tackle for loss, a pass defensed, and 3 QB hits. Colts subpackage defensive tackle Ade Adebawore also added some interior pass pressures off the bench, finishing 0.5 sacks and 2 QB hits.
Colts linebacker Jaylon Carlies had an athletic interception off Kaliakmanis which he batted to himself early in the 3rd quarter and set up Taylor’s 2nd touchdown run of the day, as Indianapolis was able to start pulling away.
Although they got off to a bit of a slow start themselves, the Colts defense was a strength of the team for much of the day, which they rightfully should be going against a rookie 3rd-string backup quarterback, with no NFL prior NFL experience.
That being said, Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner surprisingly struggled on two deep Kaliakmanis’ throws, although it looked like there may have been at least some miscommunication or a blown coverage assignment by rookie safety AJ Haulcy regarding expected over-the-top help on the 47-yard Treylon Burks touchdown reception early in the 3rd quarter. It’ll be interesting to see if the Colts will clarify what happened this week on that ‘stop-and-go’ by Burks on Gardner that led to an easy big score.
Lastly, Colts kicker Spencer Shrader continues to be ‘money in the bank’ so far this early season with makes of 48 yards, 52 yards, and 44 yards in this one, while successfully converting all 3 of his extra point attempts.
