The Indianapolis Colts didn’t just win a football game in Berlin. They orchestrated one.
A roster that has consistently found ways to win ballgames this fall, a 31–25 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons was another example of what has quietly become one of the NFL’s most efficient, deliberate, and malleable operations.
At 8–2, there’s no mistaking what’s happening in Indy -- Shane Steichen has built a system that bends to his players, not the other way around.
The obvious headline was Jonathan Taylor, who stamped himself into the MVP conversation with a 32-carry, 244-yard, three-touchdown masterpiece that looked like something out of 2012 Adrian Peterson. He averaged 7.6 yards per touch, and every carry seemed to come at the perfect time.
Shane Steichen has built an Indianapolis Colts machine
But while Taylor’s brilliance carried the stat sheet, the Colts’ structure -- the spacing, sequencing, and rhythm -- told a deeper story of how Steichen has elevated the roster from respectable to one of the league's elite.
What makes Steichen’s approach so dangerous is its elasticity. It's an offense that doesn’t just call plays; it builds plans, it dissects spacing, and it prioritizes matchups.
Against Atlanta, Indianapolis used a wide blend of personnel groupings and formation variance to manipulate alignments and stress second-level defenders. Motion became more than window dressing -- it was a tool to isolate leverage and define coverage for Daniel Jones before the snap.
And Jones, to his credit, is executing the offense with a surgeon’s patience.
It would be easy to dismiss his season as one carried by Taylor, but that would miss the nuance of what he’s been asked to do. Jones completed 19 of 26 passes for 255 yards in Berlin, added 53 on the ground, and continues to look more in command than at any point in his NFL career.
His legs weren’t a crutch -- they were a controlled weapon, an extension of the Colts’ RPO and play-action structure that Steichen has blended seamlessly into the weekly game plan, as well.
It's what “game management” looks like when it’s done right; Jones isn’t asked to be a superhero, he’s asked to be efficient, calm, and decisive -- and in Steichen’s world, that’s enough.
The Colts’ offense has also quietly become one of the best in football in expected points per drive, red-zone efficiency, and third-down conversion rate. That’s not an accident. It’s sequencing, trust, and a staff that knows exactly who they are at every spot on the field and on every down.
Consider how the passing distribution played out against Atlanta. Rookie Tyler Warren, a breakout, was targeted 10 times -- the most of any Colt -- and caught eight passes for 99 yards. His role as a movable chess piece mirrors what Steichen once had with Dallas Goedert in Philadelphia. He can detach from the line, run the seam, block in-line, or be used as a puller in power looks that morph into bootleg actions.
Each touchpoint for Warren changes how a defense can respond, and Steichen understands it to a finite detail.
Then there’s Alec Pierce -- long considered a developmental player whose future in Indianapolis was uncertain. On Sunday, he caught four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, showing the vertical range and body control that had always flashed but never fully landed.
Steichen found ways to get him into isolated matchups, often through condensed formations that forced Atlanta’s corners into traffic. Football, as Steichen preaches, is about changing the math -- and few coaches have done it better.
Even Michael Pittman Jr., the team’s unquestioned WR1, had just two catches on the day -- and yet, that lack of volume, at times, is by design. Pittman drew coverage attention that opened voids for Warren and Pierce. Again, Steichen doesn’t chase touches; he chases leverage. Every snap is a puzzle, and his ability to reframe that puzzle on the fly is what separates the offense.
But back to Taylor, and the play of the front five. The big uglies up front that fail to ever get the necessary attention.
His performance was as much a product of Steichen’s play sequencing as raw blocking dominance. Indianapolis mixed inside zone, duo, and gap looks with deceptive pre-snap motion -- forcing Atlanta’s young front seven to hesitate at times, then striking vertically.
When you run for nearly 250 yards, it’s never just physicality. It’s timing, disguise, and execution.
And that’s where Steichen’s genius shines: he plays with defensive rules. He builds mirrored looks that can be run or passed out of, pulling safeties into no-win situations. Every week, the Colts find new ways to manipulate numbers -- whether it’s through RPO structure, tempo variation, or simply forcing opponents to defend every blade of grass.
At 8–2, Indianapolis isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore. They’re not the scrappy, overachieving team playing above its weight class. They are, right now, one of the most structurally sound and self-aware teams in football.
Steichen’s offense is built on clarity and detail -- traits that travel well, whether it’s across time zones or against playoff-caliber defenses. And the win in Berlin was more than another line in the standings.
It was a window into a team that understands exactly who it is -- a group that doesn’t panic when the script changes, because it’s coached to adapt in real time. Steichen’s influence isn’t loud, but it’s unmistakable. He’s created a framework that empowers stars like Taylor, elevates steady hands like Jones, and unlocks explosive rookie playmakers like Warren and overlooked talents like Pierce.
That’s how you get to 8-2 -- not by luck or streaks, but by design.