Indianapolis Colts
Team Leader
No longer ‘happy go lucky,’ these surprising Colts have become legit AFC contender
Source: https://www.stampedeblue.com/analys...ising-colts-have-become-a-legit-afc-contender
No one, and I mean absolutely no one, realistically thought the Indianapolis Colts would be this good outside of anyone directly employed at their W. 56th Street complex or with some really Horseshoe blue tinted glasses.
This isn’t just a good team that may sneak into an AFC wild card game anymore, with the right breaks down the season’s stretch, but sitting at 6-1 and atop the AFC, they’re now a bonafide Super Bowl contender.
As CBS analyst and future NFL Hall of Famer J.J. Watt eloquently put it on the telecast, “Everyone’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Let me tell you, that shoe ain’t dropping.”
Watt reiterated that the Colts “have no weaknesses” right now.
While there is assuredly work to be done, potentially in a depleted Colts cornerback room and for a stalling edge rush outside 2nd-year pass rusher Laiatu Latu—as next month’s NFL trade deadline rapidly approaches, one doesn’t have to make much of a leap of faith at all to believe that this looks and feels like a legitimate AFC contender—*health permitting for the remainder of the season.
This elite NFL offense continues to put on a clinic week-after-week and looks incredibly difficult to stop—as every bit of a well-oiled, prolific scoring and efficient machine:
We always knew that Colts head coach Shane Steichen was a gifted offensive play-caller and one of the better young offensive minds in the league—even after last season’s collective disappointment.
Everything that he seems to call is going great right now, and he may lead the league in consistently scheming receivers wide open through his astute play-calling so far this season. He’s been on a heater.
It’s not just that he’s calling great plays though, the Colts players are also executing them close to perfection.
He’s been in complete lock step with new Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, and when this head coach-quarterback pairing isn’t attending Butler basketball games together on a Friday night, they’re breaking opposing defenses and their coordinators collective spirits out on football fields fresh come Sunday afternoons.
Jones has so far mastered the offense, showing exceptional pre-snap recognition, poise, progression, accuracy, and an ability to extend plays under pressure. He’s looked like the former franchise quarterback that New York Giants fans thought they had when they selected him with the 6th overall pick back in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Fortunately, the Colts don’t have to decide anytime soon and can let the regular season play out for a larger sample size to reference, but he looks like he’ll be the eventual recipient of a lucrative, multi-year contract extension, presumably similar to the one that now successful former first round reclamation quarterback Sam Darnold just received with the Seattle Seahawks this past offseason.
It’s not just Steichen and Jones though.
That would be selling everyone else collectively short, and there’s a lot of collective praise to go around.
It’s superstar workhorse Johnathan Taylor, who leads the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, and looks like the favorite for NFL Offensive Player of the Year and a legitimate NFL MVP candidate, for a prestigious individual award that’s historically been reserved for top quarterbacks in more modern league history.
It’s an offensive line that’s moving and manhandling opposing defensive linemen and linebackers upfront seemingly at will more often than not, paving huge running lanes for Taylor, while keeping Jones largely upright to make plays both in and outside the pocket.
It’s top rookie tight end Tyler Warren, who’s been a dynamic, versatile playmaker all over the field—with three receiving touchdowns in three straight games, and presented a mismatch nightmare that opposing defenses have yet to effectively neutralize but always have to somehow still account for while game-planning and preparing.
It’s a ‘pick your poison’ receiving corps with big bodied possession wideout Michael Pittman Jr., deep ball acrobat Alec Pierce, savvy natural slot Josh Downs, etc. where opposing defenses cannot simply lock on one guy. What the Colts lack in having a truly elite WR1, they have one of the deepest receiving rooms in football right now.
Under new veteran defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and the veteran additions of both safety Cam Bynum and cornerback Charvarius Ward in the secondary, the Colts defense is better and much improved from last year.
There’s no more soft zone coverage no matter the down and/or situation, but rather, this defense is being tailored to each particular weekly matchup. It’s an opportunistic defense that after leaving Sunday’s game is allowing the 8th fewest points (20.0 avg. ppg)—even with their depleted cornerback room. After picking off Los Angeles Chargers Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert twice yesterday, the Colts rank 3rd best in total takeaways (11).
Things feel really good right now in Indianapolis.
That was a statement road win against a very good and well coached football team, and a game that the Colts of more recent seasons would’ve found a way to falter late.
It’s time to give some credit when it’s due too. With an underwhelming quarterback situation and a GM and head coach who were both on the hot seat, this season almost felt over before it started—entering the 2025 campaign.
The Colts made the right moves though in the face of critics, in what’s shaping up to be a nearly perfect offseason.
Under the three Irsay daughters new energized leadership, an improved Colts clubhouse and culture, and an elite offense that’s routinely giving opposing defenses nightmares, backed by a defense that can opportunistically make plays (especially if it can shore up some deficiencies here soon), it’s an Indianapolis squad that could potentially be playing deep, late winter football again—which has been a very long time coming for the Horseshoe faithful.
There’s real reasons for optimism right now in Indy, as this feels and looks likes a well-rounded Colts juggernaut that has realistic aspirations of hoisting an elusive Lombardi Trophy—if they can keep up their great work.
Source: https://www.stampedeblue.com/analys...ising-colts-have-become-a-legit-afc-contender