Iron sharpens iron goes the cliché, but in terms of the Indianapolis Colts, the phrase might prove true. Cornerback Sauce Gardner will be made better by practicing against head coach Shane Steichen's play-calling. Gardner also recently implied that Steichen is the best offensive coach he has faced on the same team.
Moreover, Steichen gives Indy the edge over Gardner's previous team, the New York Jets, and maybe for the first time in his career, the cornerback believes he is on a team that is going to turn into a winner. Four words from Gardner's recent comments to The Athletic's James Boyd show that: "We're gonna win here."
That implies Gardner didn't think that the Jets were in a position to be a winner during his time there. Perhaps worse, before the cornerback was traded to the Colts in the middle of last season, New York football seemed to be in a worse spot than in Gardner's previous three seasons.
Indianapolis Colts' Sauce Gardner seems to throw shade at the New York Jets
"We gonna win here," said Gardner. "That's the reality. Period. I don't really think about the New York scene. This place...we're gonna win here...Being able to go against coach Shane (Steichen) every day, that's really who I'm going against. He a top-three play-caller. Obviously, I spent time with different play-callers with the Jets...but (Steichen is) top three (in the NFL) easily."
The comparison to the "New York scene" and then quickly moving on to Indianapolis winning shouldn't be easily dismissed. Not that Colts fans would do that. While many national pundits are picking Indy to have a terrible season, the reason why is unclear. Steichen and Gardner are just two people in the organizations that she propel the team to a possible playoff spot.
The Jets, though, not so much. For instance, USA Today recently projected New York to go 3-14 in 2026. That is just one of many predictions that have the Jets ending up around the same spot. New York does have several high-round draft picks in 2027 (including the Indianapolis Colts' first-round selection that they received in the trade that brought Sauce Gardner to Indy).
Ironically, Indianapolis fans might want to hope USA Today is wrong overall, however. The site projects the Colts to be 5-12. That said, USA Today is already wrong in one aspect. It predicted Indy to trade Jonathan Taylor after a poor start to the season. Taylor recently signed a two-year extension, so he won't be going anywhere until at least 2029.
With a loaded secondary with Gardner, Charvarius Ward, and others, and, according to Gardner, one of the best play-callers in the league in Steichen and a hopefully healthy Daniel Jones, Indianapolis could look closer to the first half of last season when the team began 7-1.
The Jets aren't in the same spot. They play in the difficult AFC East and don't have a good roster. Gardner summed up the difference between his former team and his current team perfectly: As opposed to the Jets, the Colts are "gonna win."
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