As the Indianapolis Colts get ready to begin their 74th NFL season, let’s look back one year. Do you remember how you were feeling about the club just before the beginning of the 2025 season?
You may have been thinking about the streak. The Colts had gone eleven consecutive seasons without winning their opening game. Or the other streak. It had been ten years since they had won a playoff game. Well, they did end that first losing streak. The second? Maybe this year.
Let’s take a quick look back at opening day 2025 to see if we can get any clues about what we may see this Sunday, when Shane Steichen and his men host the Baltimore Ravens, and for the 2026 season as a whole. Warning – there really isn’t much to decipher. Every season – even the ones that do not feature a lot of turnover – is unique. And 2026 does indeed feature a great deal of turnover.
Indianapolis Colts opening day, 2025
The Miami Dolphins were the opponent in Week 1, 2025. Indy was a slight favorite, but the game was essentially seen as a toss-up. Both teams had creative offensive head coaches and suspect defenses. Therefore, the over/under leaned to the high side. But both teams also had major questions. So that O/U was more in the high-middle. The fact was, no one really knew what to expect.
For Colts fans, the biggest question came under center. Daniel Jones was the new quarterback. He had beaten out incumbent Anthony Richardson in the preseason. The inconsistent Richardson had his supporters, but it wasn’t really a difficult decision for Steichen. Jones was clearly more prepared for the job.
But that certainly doesn’t mean everyone was confident. Both locally and nationally, there were plenty of questions about whether Jones could be any more consistent than AR5 had been. He had a track record of showing off tantalizing glimpses and then faltering.
The other major question concerned the Colts’ defense. There were several new starters in town. Most of all, there was a new coordinator running things. Could Lou Anarumo build a playoff-worthy defense?
There were other questions, to be sure. A couple of new kids on the offensive line. Another youngster – Spencer Shrader – was handling the placekicking. How would the rookie class – led by highly-touted tight end Tyler Warren – perform?
After that opening game against Miami, it seemed as if all of those questions had been answered. And those answers were very encouraging.
The Colts blasted Miami off the field. Yes – they covered that narrow point spread. They won by 25, the biggest margin of victory in the league that week. They scored the fourth-most points while surrendering the second-fewest in Week 1.
33-8 didn’t even fully capture the dominance. Indy had more than twice as many first downs and almost twice as many total yards. They were in control both on the ground and through the air. They ran the ball 40 times to the Dolphins' 12, collected three turnovers without coughing the ball up at all. In the end, they had a staggering 17-minute edge in time of possession.
Jones was efficient. Shrader was perfect. Warren led the team in receptions. The line looked great. Anarumo’s defense looked great. All was right with the world.
We all know how it ended, so let’s fast-forward one year. With Lamar Jackson and the Ravens coming to town, what has changed? On offense, not a lot, though health issues do lead to new questions.
On defense, you are going to need your program handy to identify all the new players.
Only two offensive starters are gone from that 2025 club. Both were respected long-time veterans, and fans are rightfully concerned about how their absence will affect what had been a dynamic offense through most of 2025.
Jalen Travis steps in at right tackle for Braden Smith. I think Travis will be just fine. There may be some rough spots early on, but in time, he should be an anchor for years to come.
Taking over for Michael Pittman? That is a different matter. Pittman was the reliable possession receiver last year – just as he has been since arriving in town. The team expects Alec Pierce to play a more prominent role this year. He has been the most explosive deep threat in the league for a few seasons, but will he be able to produce with a more diverse route tree?
More importantly, is there a third receiver to supplement Pierce and slot option Josh Downs? Is Keenan Allen the answer?
Otherwise, almost everyone is back, and they are joined by Seth McGowan, Deion Burks, Jalen Farmer, and Sedrick Van Pran-Granger to provide depth. Perhaps the biggest question is whether Jones and Pierce will be rusty after recovering from injuries that have limited their preseason preparation.
On defense, it’s anybody’s guess. Six of the starters in that 2025 opener against Miami are gone. That includes long-time mainstays like Kenny Moore, Kwity Paye, and Zaire Franklin. Even more remarkably, of the seven reserves who played at least ten defensive snaps in that game, six of them are also gone.
This is not merely a case of the Colts dealing with the departure of a couple of long-time vets. This is a massive defensive overhaul. The front seven will look very different. The biggest questions come at linebacker and edge rusher.
Here’s a trivia question for you. The Colts had three sacks against Miami. Do you remember who accounted for them?
Nick Cross, Kenny Moore, and Samsun Ekuban. Notice anything about them? If you said “none are still Colts,” you got it right.
Cross, Moore, Joe Bachie, Zaire Franklin, Rodney Thomas, and Mekhi Blackmon were credited with 26 tackles in that game. That’s half of the Colts' combined total of 52. All of those players are gone, as are Week 1 starters Kwity Paye and Xavien Howard, and key reserves Neville Gallimore, Tyquan Lewis, and Cameron McGrone.
That’s right – Joe Bachie and Cameron McGrone shared the linebacking spot opposite Franklin for the first month of the season in 2025.
This year, a lot is expected of rookie linebackers CJ Allen and Bryce Boettcher. Their results in the preseason left plenty of room for doubt. But none of that matters come Sunday. I suppose nothing that happened in last year’s opener really matters either. But at least fans can recall that – if they were worried headed into the 2025 season – that things worked out pretty well. At least for a while.
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