How do you define disappointment? I suppose it has something to do with the gap between expectation and result. If that’s the case, it’s kind of tough to point to any major disappointment in the Indianapolis Colts' first half performance in 2025. Shane Steichen's men are exceeding expectations pretty much across the board.
I’m certainly not looking on offense. The receivers and running backs have played at a best-case level. As for the offensive line and quarterback, they have exceeded even that standard. That’s saying something, since in theory, you really can’t exceed the best-case scenario. And still, they have – logic be damned.
On offense, the only real disappointment was AD Mitchell, and he’s now gone, disappointing fans of the New York Jets instead. So let’s turn to the defense and special teams in search of a major disappointment. Here, we run into that pesky matter of semantics.
The Colts’ biggest first-half disappointment is open for debate
It’s something of a Rorschach Test for the way you see the game. To me, the biggest disappointment of the first half of the season is informed by injuries. The specific one that I find most disappointing has been the loss of kicker Spencer Shrader.
He was on his way to an excellent season before tearing his knee ligaments against the Raiders in early October. Michael Badgley has been an inconsistent replacement, and that could end up costing Indy at some point this season.
If I’m allowing injury to inform the disappointing decision, then perhaps the plague that has descended upon the Colts’ cornerbacks is even more significant. Of the perimeter corners expected to comprise Indy’s top four this offseason, none have managed to be on the field for more than 40% of the defensive snaps this year.
JuJu Brents didn’t make the final roster, and rookie Justin Walley was lost before the season even began. Jaylon Jones has just returned from injury, and Charvarius Ward is now in concussion protocol. Combined, Johnathan Edwards and Chris Lammons – players who few considered likely to make the final roster – have played more perimeter corner snaps than Ward and Jones.
Somehow, the Colts' secondary has held it together, which has to be a credit to coach Chris Hewitt, one of Indy’s unsung heroes this season. So even though on one level, the injuries to the cornerbacks have been a big disappointment, considering the level of performance, their play has actually been a pleasant surprise.
The flip side is true of Indy’s edge rushers. Quite frankly, I didn’t expect that much from them, and that’s mostly what they have delivered. To me, that group is Indy’s biggest disappointment in the first half of 2025.
There’s an important caveat. They're really not playing all that poorly. The number of the primary edge rushers – Laiatu Latu, Kwity Paye, Samson Ebukam, JT Tuimoloau, and Tyquan Lewis - is by no means terrible. Latu’s numbers are actually quite good.
As a group, they have more total QB pressures than their counterparts in Houston, Jacksonville, and Tennessee. But game script matters here. The Colts’ offense has been so dominant that opponents have been forced to throw far more than the average.
Indy’s defense has faced 100 more passing attempts than the defense of the Texans. So even though Latu and company do have more hurries, they are only out in front by two. Houston’s edges are far more productive as pass rushers.
But there’s more nuance to consider. Overall, Lou Anarumo’s defense is, in fact, generating very good pressure. Their pressure rate is higher than their blitz rate, which is a ratio that usually spells success. The thing is, that pressure is not necessarily coming from the edges. Indy gets great push from its interior linemen and has a set of very effective pass-rushing linebackers and safeties.
Anarumo does not always ask his edges to rush. Sometimes, they will drop into coverage while a safety attacks the backfield. Latu is a textbook example. He is playing better than his five sacks might suggest. But he also has two interceptions. It may not be fair to simply look at the raw numbers for the Colts’ edges this season because they are asked to be a part of a more complex defensive plan.
And still, if you simply watch the Colts’ edges not name Latu in individual matchups against offensive tackles, you have to admit they are not doing very much. Kwity Paye has had some moments in recent games, but I think we have seen him enough to know that he is a decent all-around player – but not an elite pass rusher.
Ebukam is hurt now and unlikely to regain his form of 2023. Lewis has never recorded more than four sacks in his career.
Tuimolaou has been the biggest disappointment. The rookie really hasn’t been on the field as much as fans might have expected. He has recorded just four QB hits and is still in search of his first sack. With Ebukam out, he should get more chances in the second half of the season.
If the play of the Colts’ edges is indeed the biggest disappointment of the first half of 2025, that suggests Indy’s is having an excellent season. But if the Colts are going to make a deep push in the playoffs, that play must improve. They eventually will be playing the league’s best QBs, and they will need to put them under pressure in order to succeed.
And in the short term, the loss of DeForest Buckner is a major blow. Apart from Latu, he has been the Colts’ best pass rusher this season. Indy does have several other tackles capable of generating pressure, but without Buckner, more of the pass-rushing onus will fall squarely on those edge rushers.