Just how good was the Indianapolis Colts’ offense on Sunday? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This isn’t exactly Peyton and Edgerrin. There’s no Marvin and Reggie. They don’t even have a tight end named after a major American city or a lineman named for a day of the week.
Then again, those powerhouses from the first decade of the 21st century never scored points on 14 out of their first 17 possessions to begin a season the way the 2025 club has done. No team has done that. Against Denver, Jim Bob Cooter’s crew would have made it seven out of nine point-scoring drives if not for the equivalent of a one-play kneel down at the end of the first half.
It's a good thing that Rigoberto Snachez has been holding on kicks – otherwise, folks may begin to wonder if the punter is really a part of the team this year.
Is the Indianapolis Colts' offensive success sustainable?
Let’s be clear. It’s still way too early to make any bold pronouncements. Plenty of things could go wrong, beginning with a crucial injury or two. Check out the first two games of the 2024 New Orleans Saints if you need a reality check. But let’s also enjoy what we are seeing. Because what we are seeing doesn’t happen every day.
Doubters had plenty of reasons to brush off Indy’s opening day demolition of Miami. It was clearly an emotional day, and the Colts came out flying. The Dolphins' defense was already suspect. Sure, Daniel Jones performed very well, but come on. This was still Daniel Jones. Fans in New York had found him wanting, and that’s a hard label to shake.
But go inside the numbers and look at what Jones and his crew did against the Denver Broncos in Week 2: 473 total yards. 7.1 yards-per-play.
You know how many times the Broncos’ defense gave up that many yards last year? Twice. One time was one of those magical games that Jameis Winston has every so often, when he and the Cleveland Browns seemed unstoppable.
The other was against Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and Cincy needed overtime to surpass the Colts’ totals on Sunday. BTW – despite giving up so many yards, Denver won both of those games.
And Cooter’s crew was amazingly balanced against Denver. Over 300 yards passing at 8.7 yards per attempt. Over 150 yards on the ground – better than five yards per carry. Those are elite numbers from both the running and passing game. Again, Denver’s defense did surrender those kinds of numbers in a couple of games last year, but it was very rare.
And they never gave up across-the-board numbers like that to a single team in one game. The Ravens dominated Denver in the air but didn’t run very well. Tampa did run the ball efficiently, but was anemic when throwing.
Denver played eight games against quarterbacks named Mahomes, Herbert, Allen, Mayfield, Burrow, and Jackson, and never were as thoroughly dominated as they were by Daniel Jones on Sunday.
The jury will remain out of Jones all year. Even if he continues to perform, there will be doubters. That’s fine. In fact, that’s how it should be. I’ve long-argued that Jones was done no favors by a miserable offense – especially a substandard offensive line – during his years in New York. But that doesn’t mean that Jones is capable of leading a winner.
He hasn’t shown that yet. All I have pointed out is that at least with the Colts, he will have a better chance to show what he can do. Two good games doesn’t prove anything.
Still, what has changed about this offense? Same coordinator. A bit of shuffling on the line. The same skill players, with two major exceptions. A budding star at tight end, and a QB no one thought much of one month ago. That’s it.
Those are the only differences on offense from the squad that nine months ago played this same Broncos team and turned the ball over five times. They managed 310 yards and 4.3 yards per play. They scored 13 points.
Yep, something has changed.
But again, let’s be realistic. Jonathan Taylor is so crucial to this offense that he is an MVP candidate after the first two weeks. He needs to stay healthy and productive. That means the Colts need to find another back who can shoulder more of the load.
Second, as remarkable as Cooter’s offense has been, the coaches very nearly blew the game with their absurdly conservative play-calling in the final drive. Running Taylor into a stacked line three straight times and settling for a 60-yard field goal attempt was coaching malpractice. Cooter and Shane Steichen were rescued by a flukish penalty that gave them the win.
Daniel Jones can run. On first or second down of that final drive, some sort of misdirection – a bootleg or a read option, which would allow Jones to take advantage of an overly aggressive defense and get to the outside, would have been in order. But the play calling was timid, and it almost cost Indy the game.
This offense may not be as good as it has looked through two games, but make no mistake. This is not a fluke. We’ll see if they can sustain it when they leave their home turf. We’ll see if Daniel Jones turns back into a pumpkin when the clock strikes midnight. We’ll see if they can weather the injuries that are guaranteed to come.
But if they keep developing Warren and keep Taylor fresh – if they keep involving all of the quality pass catches on the outside – and if the coaches start to trust that this QB can keep making plays, this could turn out to be a special season.