The Indianapolis Colts are currently 4-1, sitting atop the AFC, and this season’s early success is starting to feel very much real.
It’s not as though the Colts’ initial three wins were flukey by any means (although they did get admittedly a bit lucky on that late ‘leverage’ penalty against the Denver Broncos in Week 2, allowing for a re-kick of a then shorter game-winning field goal attempt), but we’ve seen NFL teams get hot for a stretch only to nose dive the rest of the way.
We typically call that early season ‘fool’s gold’.
At home, the Colts were expected to beat the now 1-4 Las Vegas Raiders. However, the Colts didn’t just grind out a tough win against an inferior opponent on Sunday, they routed the Raiders to the tune of 40-6, in a game that just wasn’t very competitive in the second half.
Recent Colts teams of the past have played down to their competition. Sometimes being surprisingly upset, other times barely eeking out a win. Yesterday’s performance was more reminiscent of the prolific ‘Peyton Manning era’ of Colts football where that uber-talented, exceptional at executing, and well-coached Indianapolis roster would just manhandle the league’s weaker teams.
While the addition of top rookie tight end Tyler Warren has been a game-changer for the Colts offense given his versatility and dynamic ability over the middle of the field, there’s been no bigger reason for Indianapolis’s remarkable turnaround this season than new starting quarterback Daniel Jones.
(Jonathan Taylor also deserves a plug here for being a beast and a legitimate league MVP candidate, as do the veteran additions of Charvarius Ward and Cam Bynum to the Colts revamped secondary, among others).
Even after showing cracks during Week 4’s loss against the Los Angeles Rams stingy defense with two costly interceptions (and easily what was his worst performance so far with the Colts), ‘Indiana Jones’ rebounded this week against the Raiders of the Las-t Vegas. During Sunday’s blowout win, Jones completed 20 of 29 pass attempts for 212 total passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, and 0 interceptions.
He’s shown great command of the offense, including with his pre-snap reads. He’s largely avoided turnovers, advanced through his progressions, and made the right winning plays. He’s also shown a surprising knack for avoiding pass pressure and extending the play, something that previously plagued him with the New York Giants.
While I wouldn’t necessarily say his quarterback play has been always elite here in the early going, it’s been consistently really good. He’s been mostly more than just a ‘game manager’ in that regard, as his 4-yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr. in the closing seconds of the first half was a thing of beauty.
That may be what is the difference between the Colts potentially making a deep playoff run. A lot of good starting quarterback play is just eliminating turnovers and making the right play, but the truly elite quarterbacks can elevate their teammates in tough spots and make those game-winning plays. Jones had one of them to close out the first half on Sunday afternoon, as well as a few others earlier in the year. We’ll have to see if he can keep it up against the league’s stronger competition and in more pressure filled football environments later in the year.
The 28-year-old veteran had shown flashes previously in the past of being a franchise quarterback hopeful with the Giants, as it earlier landed him a 4-year, $160 million contract extension back in March of 2023. However, those glimmers ultimately ended up being short-lived just a few years later, as Jones was then limited by injuries, inconsistency, and turnovers—effectively ending his once promising tenure in The Big Apple.
Right now, the sample size for Jones performing well is only getting larger in Indianapolis, and as that slate of really good collective team play only continues to grow and grow for this year’s Colts, they’re very much feeling really real here.
Not just an AFC team that could sneak into a wild card round, but at least an AFC South winner—maybe even more, if we’re talking about true NFL contenders. There’s a long way to go, but fan morale is very high these days!
