The Indianapolis Colts have reached the end of the first quarter of the 2026 season, and what was appearing to trend toward an awful season has turned around. Indy is 2-2, but that feels like a victory after a 0-2 start.
The team could be even better should some star players get back to full health or begin playing up to the lofty standards. The quarterback play has been lacking overall, for instance, and has to improve.
The next couple of games look winnable for head coach Shane Steichen's team, beginning with a trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. That is always a tricky place for Indy to play, but a win there could be one more step toward a playoff push.
The Indianapolis Colts' biggest winners and losers at the quarter mark of the 2026 season
Winner: DeForest Buckner
Buckner may have doubted whether to keep playing football after he injured his neck last season. He missed seven games, and it was the second straight year that he had missed at least five. Not a great sign for a player well past 30.
This season, though, Buckner is playing as well as he ever has. He has three sacks in four games and three tackles for loss. He is playing like an All-Pro, even when the defense struggled in the first two games.
Winner: Akeem Davis-Gaither
Davis-Gaither didn't get many starts with his first team, the Cincinnati Bengals, but had he not played there, he wouldn't have known defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Anarumo, of course, is the DC with the Colts now, and has a deep trust with his former players.
After safety Cam Bynum began as the green dot on Indy's defense (which was a mess in Week 1), Davis-Gaither became the green dot in Week 2. The communication with the defense has been much better, and, unsurprisingly, so has the overall play.
Winner: Spencer Shrader
In training camp, Shrader was battling with Blake Grupe for the kicker spot, and Grupe appeared to have the lead. In the preseason games, though, Shrader was much better. So good, in fact, that his success earned him the job.
Thank goodness for it, too. Shrader has been terrific in the regular season. He's made all 11 of his field goal attempts, including all four beyond 50 yards, with a long of 58. Like Buckner, Shrader could be trending toward an All-Pro performance.
Winner: Charvarius Ward
Also like Buckner, Ward could have had several doubts about returning in 2026. He suffered three concussions last season and has made more than enough money to retire comfortably.
This season, he has been the Colts' best cornerback, even better than Sauce Gardner. He's broken up four passes, allowed just five completions on 16 targets for 87 yards and no touchdowns. His quarterback rating is currently a career low of 50.8.
Loser: CJ Allen
General manager Chris Ballard was wrong. He said that after taking Allen in the second round this year, the first of Indianapolis's picks, the linebacker was the special kind of player who could immediately become a leader and likely the green dot on the defense.
Instead, Allen has been a healthy scratch in two of the four games and hasn't played much in the other two. It is almost as if the team is trying to teach Allen a lesson, but he might be wondering exactly what he did wrong.
Loser: Tyler Warren
Warren does have two touchdown catches so far, but his longest catch of the season is 15 yards, and he is averaging a staggeringly low 5.7 yards per reception. Of his 23 receptions, only a total of eight have gone for a first down or a touchdown.
Having no Alec Pierce for much of the season appears to have affected Warren the most. Without a wideout who can be consistently explosive on the outside, Warren has become more of a check-down option against defenses already playing close to the line of scrimmage.
Loser: Daniel Jones
The quarterback is back healthy; fans have seen how he can run relatively well when he needs to, but his Achilles tendon tear from last season might be weighing on him. He has seven turnovers in four games (15 in his last nine dating back to last year) and seems far more inaccurate than he was last season.
Can he fix his problems? Hopefully, because the team isn't going to the playoffs if he doesn't. For Daniel Jones, if he doesn't begin playing a lot better, he might not be with the Colts next season.
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