Daniel Jones played his worst game as an Indianapolis Colt in Sunday’s 27-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, it is difficult to separate Jones’ five turnovers and five sacks from an equally subpar day of play-calling from Shane Steichen. In the end, this falls on Jones for his failure to execute, but for the first time this season, his coach did him no favors.
On the first drive of the game, Indianapolis ran 13 plays. Nine of them were passes. The four runs gained a total of eight yards. Two yards per run is obviously not good enough. But the Colts have thrived this season by giving Jonathan Taylor the ball.
The star running back got the ball three times on that opening drive (the fourth run was Daniel Jones’ sneak, which resulted in a touchdown), and then ran just eleven times after that. Those fourteen carries were his second-fewest of the season.
The Indianapolis Colts’ offense has to run through Jonathan Taylor
Taylor had his fewest yards this season. His lowest yards-per-carry. It was the first game in which he did not break a run of at least ten yards and the third in which he did not score a touchdown.
Obviously, the Steelers’ defense had something to do with these numbers. But part of it was due to a game plan that rather quickly abandoned the primary factor in the Colts’ extraordinary offensive success through the first half of 2025.
The Steelers' defense entered Sunday’s game with something to prove. They had surrendered an average of 118 yards per game on the ground over their previous four games and had given up 68 points in the previous two weeks. For a team that has always prided itself on playing tough defense, this lull was hard to figure out.
Especially the rushing defense. The Steelers line is anchored by Cameron Heyward, among the best interior linemen in the league. Edge TJ Watt and Nick Herbig are known as pass rushers, but they are both complete players who handle the run effectively.
Their linebackers and safeties may not have been quite as dominant as they have been in the past, but Pittsburgh has a lot of good players in the middle of its defense.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin clearly came into the Colts’ game determined to slow down Taylor. It would make sense that if your opponent is going to crowd the line, an offense would counter that by throwing more.
But it became clear early on that Steichen was largely giving up on even trying to run the ball and that resulted int disaster. Once Watt and fellow edge Alex Highsmith realized that the Colts would passing on most downs, they teed off.
Indy’s tackles often looked overmatched. The fact that Braden Smith struggled against Watt is not surprising. Bernhard Raimann’s problems with Highsmith are more alarming – and more instructive.
The Colts’ line has been so dominant this season in part because of how balanced the offense has been. If edges have to account for Jonathan Taylor’s potential to break runs outside, they have to at least take a half step off their pass rush. Conversely, if they know Daniel Jones is throwing, they can attack.
After that opening drive, and before the game got out of hand late, Indianapolis ran 37 plays. 62 percent were passes. Coming into the game, Steichen was throwing on approximately 54 percent of his plays.
That’s when the game was still relatively even, and circumstances did not force the play-caller’s hand. Late in the game, after Indy went down by three scores, Steichen threw on his final 29 plays. But he was already leaning that way before the fourth quarter.
What is especially maddening about this odd strategy is that just before circumstances forced Indy to stop running altogether, Taylor was finally showing some spark. He carried four times for 21 yards on their drive late in the third quarter, when they trailed 17-7. That included a run for no gain. For the first and only time in the game, the Colts offense was balanced – four runs, four passes on the drive.
Unfortunately, the final pass was another Jones interception. Soon it was 24-7, and the game was essentially over.
Ultimately, this comes down to players and execution. Indianapolis did not lose the game because of Steichen’s play-calling. They lost because, for the first time this season, Matt Goncalves played a very poor game. They lost because their tackles were overwhelmed. And they lost because Daniel Jones reverted to the worst of his habits from his days with the New York Giants.
But the offensive design and playcalling certainly didn’t help. The Steelers played a great game on defense. If the Colts intend to be a contender and not a pretender, they will have to stand up against other teams that feature stout defenses. To do that, they need to rely on their strengths.
It should be clear by now that no matter how well Daniel Jones has played this year, the Colts’ strength – at least on offense – wears number 28. If Taylor struggles early in the coming weeks, that just means the coaches need to fix that problem. Simply ignoring it does not work.