The Indianapolis Colts had a rollercoaster outing against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6, but luckily they were able to finish the day with a win. After all, as the saying goes, it doesn't matter if it's pretty as long as you win.
Obviously, fans would have rather seen another blowout the likes of the thrashing Indy gave to the Raiders just one week ago. The reality is, that's not consistently feasible in a league as competitive as the NFL. Even the bad teams feature some of the world's very best players in the sport.
This was an underwhelming performance against an inferior team in a lot of respects, but at the same time as long as the team pulls out the win, their methods can be whatever they want. It was an up-and-down and down day with far more lead changes that Indianapolis ideally wanted, but many players shone on the field as well. Here are the winners and losers for Week 6 of the Colts 2025 NFL season.
Who won and lost from the Indianapolis Colts Week 6 victory?
Winner No. 1: Tyler Warren keeps up his case for OROY
Warren finished the day as the team's leading receiver in air yards. On the opening offensive drive to the game, he was close to being the entire offense, culminating with him catching a ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Thus far into the season, he leads the league in tight end receiving yards.
The transition from college to the pro level is a notoriously tough one for tight ends. Brock Bowers of the Raiders was the first to make it look easy in 2024 as a rookie, and now in 2025 Warren has arguably raised the bar to a new level.
Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka of the Buccaneers is currently Warren's stiffest competition, and quarterbacks Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart both deserve to be in the race due to their positional value. A tight end has never won the rookie of the year award, but if there was ever a player who could do it, it's Tyler Warren.
Winner No. 2: Mekhi Blackmon
In August, the Minnesota Vikings traded Mekhi Blackmon to the Indianapolis Colts for just a sixth-round pick. The young corner was drafted by Minnesota in the third round back in 2023, having a decent rookie year but nothing special. Blackmon then missed all of 2024 with a torn ACL before he was dealt to the Colts ahead of the 2025 season.
Since then, however, he's been a bright spot in a fairly shallow Colts secondary. He's secured an interception in both of the last two weeks, reeling one in versus the Cardinals directly after Colts quarterback Daniel Jones threw a pick of his own, as well as nearly returning one against the Raiders for a pick six (had he not stepped out of bounds before the endzone).
The Colts' defense had a poor outing versus Arizona as a whole, giving up far more points than a team facing veteran journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett should rightly allow. Still, Blackmon shining is a good sign of things to come, and he's far outplayed the value of a measly sixth-round pick thus far into his Colts tenure.
Winner No. 3: Josh Downs
Josh Downs has had a quiet 2025 season up until this week versus the Cardinals. In Week 6 of the year, Downs was finally able to punch in a reception to the endzone. Even outside of that, he was also one of the most productive pass catchers on the field for Indianapolis against Arizona.
Downs finished with a stat line of six receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown, good for third third-highest yardage on the team. Not world beating by any standards, but more than exemplary for what you want as a team from a player who probably isn't even a top five option on the offense any given week.
With fellow wide receiver AD Mitchell a healthy inactive versus the Cardinals (likely still disciplined for his disastrous outing against the Rams in Week 4), it was critical for Indy that some of the lower receivers on the depth chart step up. Last week, it was Ashton Dulin. This week, it was Josh Downs. This is a team whose offensive strength is its depth, and Downs' solid performance only solidifies that.
Loser No. 1: Lou Anarumo
Luckily, Indianapolis was able to pull out the win against a tenacious Cardinals team. Really, though, it shouldn't have been as much of a nail-biter as it was. On a day when Arizona was starting Jacoby Brissett and their number one receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. exited the contest early with a concussion, the Cardinals had no business putting up as many points as they did.
As of late, the Colts have been putting up blowouts against bad teams. Definitely, this Arizona team is a tier above the Raiders and Dolphins, but not as much as the scoreboard showed at the end of the game. Yes, this is the NFL, and anything can happen on any day. This was one of those games for Indy, and they were lucky to end the contest with another notch in the W column.
This Colts team is one that is oozing with talent. However, that talent can only take them as far as their weakest link does, and Anarumo seems to fit that bill. The newly tenured DC needs to shore up the defense if this team means to contend with the elite teams of the NFL late in the year.
Loser No. 2: Charvarius Ward
Is it possible to become a loser for the game without ever taking a snap? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, and Charvarius Ward proved that. The corner sustained his second concussion of the season in just six games, a worrying mark for any player.
Concussions are an injury where the more you get, the more easily they happen again, and it's typically far worse to reinjure a concussion than to sustain one just the first time. It's not a good omen for Ward's season that he's already accrued two through six weeks.
Ward has been an outstanding player for Indy when healthy. He's undoubtedly their Cb1. That makes make it that much tougher on a day when the defense was getting carved up by Jacoby Brissett to be missing his presence. Hopefully, he returns to the field soon, and is able to recover to 100% before he comes back.
This game was a nailbiter. No other way to put it. Jonathan Taylor (who also had a spectacular day) was able to ice the game after a fourth down goal line stand from the defense. This could very easily have been a loss, and yet it wasn't. The Colts need to execute better to win against better teams than Arizona, and hopefully, this game is a wake-up call for them after the honeymoon of last week's blowout.