Greatness, or Disaster ??? The Chargers Game Could Send the Colts in Either Direction
 

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As happy as I am with the Colts' 5-1 start to this season, I am also weary of a potential crash, as this article asserts is a possibility.

That said, the article also asserts that the Colts are only a step away from greatness, as well ...... and that the game against the Chargers could potentially push the team's general direction one way or the other.



The Colts Are One Spark Away From Everything Clicking or Collapsing

(By Richard Rouse)

https://horseshoeheroes.com/indianap...ing-collapsing



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After six weeks of NFL football, who could've predicted the Indianapolis Colts would be leading the AFC South, have the best record in the AFC, and be tied for the best record in the NFL? Perhaps I was on to something when I wrote a preseason article on this being a rebound year for Indy.

Week 7 provides a significant road test as the 5-1 Colts take on the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers are also a division leader and sit one game behind the Colts for the top spot in the AFC with a 4-2 record. Both teams have high expectations and are looking at this matchup as a turning point in the season.

The Los Angeles defense ranks seventh overall, allowing an average of 293.8 yards per game to opposing offenses. The Colts' offense ranks fourth in the league, averaging 376.8 yards per game. Indianapolis also leads the league in points scored (194) and points per game (32.3). Something will have to give in this game. Indianapolis has shown toughness already this season.


A Season-Defining Game Awaits in Week 7 for the Indianapolis Colts


A victory against a strong Chargers team, on the road, could be where everything clicks for Indianapolis. The Colts would then head back home to face a division rival in the Tennessee Titans, who are abysmal and whom the Colts already handled on the road 41-20 in Week 3. A season sweep of the Titans would place Indy at 7-1, nearing the midway point of the season.

Losing to the Chargers would not only drop the team to 5-2 but also make the upcoming four-game stretch appear more daunting.

After facing the Titans at home, Indianapolis would hit the road to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, head overseas to take on the Atlanta Falcons in London, and come out of the bye week to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on the road.

This is why the game in Los Angeles could be the spark for a successful season or the catalyst for an implosion. A statement win in Week 7 proves to the league the Colts are for real and a serious playoff contender. Tasting defeat, however, puts more pressure on the four games to follow and could spell disaster if Indianapolis doesn't remain focused.

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Wish we had Kenny and Ward.......

And Downs.

The good news, it sounds like Bolts are missing their top 3 linemen and top 2 running backs. Though that group put up some big run numbers last week.

Not only do I wish we had the three guys mentioned, I wish we had someone that could get in the fucking backfield off the snap!

This seems like a horseshit take.

Just stopping in to say eat shit Pittsburgh. And also, suck it. That is all.

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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS llllllllllllll - llt38

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS lllllll - llt24

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Indianapolis Colts Steal Headlines in Strong Start

(By Clay Maxfield)

https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/...eal-headlines/



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ARGUABLY, THE biggest headline of the NFL this season has been the resurgence of the Indianapolis Colts. Step inside the team’s locker room, and the reasons for the turnaround are everywhere, from Daniel Jones’ comeback campaign with the Horseshoe to Jonathan Taylor’s MVP-caliber season to the newly infused defensive identity that has powered the Colts’ dominant 7-1 start at the top spot in the AFC South. Here’s the breakdown.


Daniel Jones' Domination


For an example of how Indy has set the tone on offense, look no further than quarterback Daniel Jones, who is in his first season with Indianapolis after spending the previous six years with the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings.

Statistically, Jones has started the first half of the season alongside some of the league leaders behind center. At fourth in the NFL with the most passing yards (2,062), Jones is tied for 11th place in the league with the most touchdowns (13).

Per ESPN, Jones sits at second in the league in quarterback rating, a statistic found when incorporating all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, but what is arguably the most important turn in his play this season has been his ability to take care of the ball.

Coming into his first season with the Colts, one of the biggest question marks was around his ball security after being something of a cautionary tale at times from the pocket. Now with just three interceptions to his name this year, the first of which didn’t come until week four, Jones’ ability looks to have been bolstered by the improved play of an offensive line that has given him the time needed to utilize what has easily been the best set of offensive weapons he’s had at his disposal throughout his entire career.

After their recent victory against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Jones reflected on what has clicked most when it comes to his play and his head coach, Shane Steichen.

“As far as it goes with Shane, the communication has been really good,” he says. “I’ve talked about it before, just throughout the week. Understanding how he wants the game to be played, how he sees it unfolding, it gives me a good idea how to handle certain situations and make decisions.”


Jonathan Taylor’s Blossoming MVP Campaign


For all the good that Jones has done for the Colts, Jonathan Taylor is the optimal 1-2 punch for an Indy team that looked one-dimensional on offense for many years.

For so long, the brunt of the offensive load has been on the shoulders of the five-year vet as the carousel of quarterbacks continued to turn for them. But now, Taylor has put up numbers reminiscent to his sophomore campaign in which he allotted 1,811 yards total along with 18 TDs.

“I think I’m able to be more efficient,” Taylor says regarding his play this season compared to other strong showcases in the past. “I know that year [2021], there were a lot of touches, but it’s now about how can I be more explosive with less touches? We’ve got a lot of players making plays, so everybody’s going to get the ball, and that makes us so lethal. What can you do? How efficient can you be when your number is called?”

Now headlining the NFL in total yards (850) and touchdowns (12), he has made an already formidable offense look nearly unstoppable.

And with each carry that Taylor has, it becomes nearly crucial downs for opposing defenses as he averages 5.9 yards per rush attempt.

Throughout the league, Taylor has solidified himself as the NFL’s scoring leader with 86 points scored, while the next 14 players are kickers with Brandon Aubrey of the Dallas Cowboys as the second highest with 74.


Indy Defense Steps Up When Needed Most


Steichen may call the plays for the Indy offense, but when asked what he believes lies in the DNA of a championship team, his first response came regarding the defensive side of the ball.

Steichen notes the importance of getting takeaways on defense. “And when we do get one, going and scoring on offense with it is big,” he says, adding that “being multiple, being aggressive defensively is huge.”

And while there’s still room to grow for Indy’s defense, what they’ve shown throughout eight contests is the ability to respond when they were needed most.

To date, the Colts hold teams to the sixth-best point total per game with 19.3. Whether it’s interceptions (tied for second in the NFL) or sacks (tied for fifth, as well as a tie for third in total takeaways), their defense has been the ignition to the fiery offense.

And as cornerback Kenny Moore recently returned to the lineup and gave their secondary a much-needed boost, the trajectory only goes up from here as Jaylon Jones and Chavarius Ward are nearing the field once more as they look to come back from injuries.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly From the Indianapolis Colts at the Bye Week

(By Paul Bretl)

https://coltswire.usatoday.com/story...k/87290358007/




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The Indianapolis Colts are on their bye week, and sit at 8-2 on the season.

Without a game being played this week, let's take a look back at the Colts' start to the season with the good, the bad, and the ugly of it all.



The Good from Colts' First 10 Games


The Offense: l For the most part, every aspect of this unit is rolling through the first 10 games. The Colts will enter their bye week first in points per game and first in yards per play.

Jonathan Taylor: l While we just mentioned the offense as a whole, we have to mention Taylor specifically. Taylor has rushed for 1,139 yards, which is the most in the NFL by over 200 yards. He also leads all running backs in attempts, yards per carry average, and touchdowns.

Forced Takeaways: l There have been some up-and-down moments defensively this season, but this unit just about always seems to come away with the crucial turnover. The Colts have currently generated the fifth-most takeaways this season.

Red-Zone Offense: l This isn't a surprise given how many points the Colts' offense can put up, but this unit has been terrific in the red zone. Indianapolis ranks fifth in red zone success rate, scoring a touchdown on nearly 70% of their visits.



The Bad from Colts' First 10 Games


3rd Down Defense: l The Colts' defense has struggled to get off the field on third downs this season, allowing opponents to convert 42.7% of their attempts, which ranks 27th in the NFL. Of course, this then extends drives and could lead to points.

Turnovers Trending the Wrong Way: l For the most part, the Colts' offense was very good at taking care of the football. However, that hasn't been the case during the last two games. Indianapolis would turn it over six times against Pittsburgh and then twice against Atlanta, but it could have been four turnovers had the Colts not recovered two fumbles.



The Ugly from Colts' First 10 Games


I got nothing here. Like any team, there are areas to improve upon and clean up, but I wouldn't put anything into the ugly football category. The Colts are 8-2 and were at the top of the AFC playoff standings prior to Week 11.

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(6 WEEKS LATER)


The Colts have gone 3-3 since this thread was started, including losing 3-out-of their last 4 ...... so they are in a somewhat similar position that they were in when they headed into the Chargers game in southern California ...... they were 5-1 at that time, but they still had not convinced all of the critics that they were indeed more than the middling team that they have been for most of the seasons since the retirement of Andrew Luck.


Losing 3-out-of-4 games will cause many fans to panic and/or declare the season dead, but that is not necessarily the reality of the situation ...... the Colts are still 8-4 overall, and 3 of those losses went right down to the wire.

The Colts may or may not fold down the stretch, but I don't think that it's a foregone conclusion ...... especially since this team has only had one really bad game so far this season, against the Steelers. They have had 2 or 3 slightly sub-par games (including the win over the Cardinals), but only one really bad one.


Today's game against the Texans was big ........ and the Colts lost ...... subsequently, next week's game against the Jaguars is even bigger. In June of 1978, Washington Bullets head coach Dick Motta said before Game Three of the NBA Finals against the Seattle Super-Sonics that it was a big game, as the series tied at 1 game apiece. The Bullets lost that game, to go down 2 games to 1. Before Game Four, Mott said l "Game Three WAS big ...... and now, Game Four is even bigger." l The Bullets won Game Four, evened the series at 2 games apiece, and got themselves right back into the hunt for the title.

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This team will fold. They had to win the game today and they didn’t.

I REALLY hope I’m wrong but I’m afraid I’m not.

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You may be correct.

They also had to win the game against the Falcons to avoid going into the bye-week on a 2-game losing streak, and they won that one. And the critics said that they had to beat the Chargers to prove that they weren't paper tigers, and they did.

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This season is over. You need someone who can actually pull you through the doldrums, pick you and the team up. Has to be the QB. Jones is and always has been totally incapable of elevating either his play or the play of anyone around him. You can win with a dude like this at the helm but you have to have your shit together in every other way to do it. We lack in game coaching and don't have a true pass rusher. Jones is exactly who some of us thought he was before he feasted on crap teams and fooled most of us. We will sign him long term and be on the tier below really good teams for the foreseeable future most likely. Frees up Sunday afternoons so that's good.

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I think that the truth of the current state of the Colts lies somewhere in between Kray's apologetic defense of the team and the posters whom are asserting that the Colts won't win another game and/or will stumble into the playoffs with a 10-7 record ...... and I think that it's closer to Kray's assessment, my debate with him about the missed extra-point aside.

Earlier in the season, the Colts were not just taking care of business against bad teams, they were hammering them ...... 33-8 over the Raiders, 41-20 over the Titans, 38-14 over the Titans ...... it was the antithesis of most of the recent Colts teams that almost always played down to the level of their competition and either barely beat said bad teams or lost to them. It was a piece of evidence which displayed that this Colts team (and the quarterback leading them on offense) was not the same as the mediocre/middling Colts teams of the recent past.

After their 8-2 start to the season, the Colts' schedule has gotten much harder, yet they were still right in the game until the end with an otherwise mobile quarterback that had a broken leg ...... imagine how effective Fran Tarkenton, Michael Vick, or Randall Cunningham would have been had they ever had to play with a broken fibula.

I believe that the people whom are presuming that the Colts will necessarily lose their next 2 games are not being objective about the reality of the situation. The Colts may lose their next 2 games, but their opponents are good teams, they are not the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers, the 1989 San Francisco 49ers, or the 1967 Baltimore Colts ...... there is just as good a chance that the Colts will win those game that they will lose them.

Of the 5 remaining games, the Colts could conceivably go anywhere from 0-5 to 5-0 ...... the difference is that I would be very surprised if they went 0-5, but I would not be surprised if they went 5-0, or 4-1. I believe that that is a more objective take than Kray's take or the doom-and-gloom posters' take. Those 5 remaining games are all contests between evenly-matched teams in which the line for the favorite will not be more than 3 or 4 points. The opening line for the Colts-Jaguars game has the Colts favored by 2.5 points. The line may vary as the week progresses, but it certainly won't swing all the way to the Colts being a prohibitive underdog by more than 7 points.

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I think we win 3 of the 5. We will either split or sweep the Jags games, and beat SF and possibly HOU at HOU. I doubt we beat SEA with a quarterback with limited mobility. Maybe AR can return to spell Jones in short yardage situations.

Winning the last 3 division games would be the best result.

I admire your optimism but I think it’s MUCH more likely they go 1-4 or 0-5 than the reverse.

But, as they say, that’s why you play the games.

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(DECEMBER 7th)


Daniel Jones may be out for the season.

The Colts' remaining schedule is very tough, and has been since the Chiefs game right after the bye.

The team is in trouble ...... there is still time to respond, but they are out of affordable losses.

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What the Colts’ Historic Collapse Could Mean for Their Future

(By Stephen Holder)

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-chris-ballard

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Looking back in hindsight I’d say once again it was the evil bumblebee wearing Steelers that sent our season off the rails

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The only thing evil about the Colts' loss to the Steeles was the 6 turnovers that they committed in that game.

After that, fate would have it that the Colts' first clutch QB since Philip Rivers in the 2020 season broke his fibula in the loss to the Chiefs, and the rest is Colts disaster history.


I firmly believe that this Colts team/franchise is much closer to the team that started the season at 8-2 prior to Jones breaking his fibula than the team that went 0-6 after that ...... as has become custom to Colts fans, we'll be pining for next year in similar fashion of which Brooklyn Dodgers fans did so many times before finally winning the world championship in 1955 ...... the main difference is that the Dodgers were always bonafide contenders and National League champions many times who were waiting to win the world championship, while Colts fans are waiting for their mediocre team(s) to evolve into a bona-fide contender and a possible candidate for an AFC championship.

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Steelers gave everyone the blueprint that up until that point nobody had a clue the Colts offense was setting records and barely punting. Steelers showed the NFL stack the line blitz like crazy and make Jones make quick decisions. If Taylor isn’t running well and Jones scripted throw isn’t there he panics and once he starts turning it over, he’ll continue to turn it over.

Falcons used the Steelers blue print and if not for an Epic performance from Jonathan Taylor that would’ve been a loss also

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So, after the Steelers game, it might have been clear that the Colts' season would be going in the shitter ??? Or as you say, in hindsight, that Steelers game was the blueprint for dismantling the Colts team that started the season at 6-1 before that game, and at 8-2 before Daniel Jones broke his fibula. That's about as dubious a claim that I can imagine in regard to what was the main protagonist in the collapse of the 20-25 Colts season.

The Colts committed 6 turnovers in the Steelers game. After that Steelers game, the Colts had 2 games in which they had 0 turnovers, and they had only 1 or 2 turnovers in all of their other remaining games except for the one against the Jaguars in which they had 3. Anybody who even moderately followed the Colts this season knows that that Daniel Jones breaking his left fibula in the Chiefs game was the biggest factor in their collapse, and the combination of further season-losses to key players (such as DeForest Buckner and Sauce Gardner) created the ideal storm for their collapse. There was no blueprint set by the Steelers, there was the Colts' otherwise mobile quarterback having to run and throw on a broken fibula, there was the team being relegated to a 44 year-old Philip Rivers as their QB after Jones tore his Achilles tendon, and there was the fact that the team was further decimated by season-ending injuries to Buckner and Gardner. If there was a blueprint set by the Steelers, the Colts would have been beaten soundly in almost every game that they played with Jones playing on his broken fibula and with 44 year-old Philip Rivers taking the snaps behind the center.

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I think initially the Colts caught teams unprepared for their offense. Mostly I believe it is how they were using Warren. They went from an offense with no tight end threat to one that was attacking from all over the field. There were obviously other things but defenses were bound to catch up (unless you actually think this was the greatest offense ever to grace an NFL field). They seemed to be catching and Jones got injured before we could know if we could react to those changes. It is still an open question and as someone who is not sold on DJ or Ballard anymore I see this as a reason to run them back for another year.

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I don't think that this was one of the greatest offenses of all-time. I do think that this was at least a 12-5 team with a healthy Daniel Jones and with at least 1 or 2 other key players also being healthy. As I said in another post, this 2025 Colts team that started the season at 8-2 had an entirely different feel to it than almost all of the mediocre Colts teams of the recent past, and not just because of the offense ...... the 2025 Colts weren't just beating bad teams, they were absolutely hammering them. And when they came up against what appeared to be a daunting challenge (playing the Chargers on their home-field in southern California), the Colts beat them handily ...... they led by a score of 38-17 entering the 4th quarter, and coasted to a 38-24 win.



The bad news is that we Colts fans are going to be going into another season in 2026 without the assuredness that it will likely be a Peyton Manning-like/Andrew-Luck-like almost certainty of at least 10 or 11 wins and a playoff berth ...... the good news is that the team is young, the starting QB (Daniel Jones) is in his prime, and while the potential floor may not be high, the potential ceiling certainly is very high.

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It would be shocking if Jones played 17 games next year. He has only done it once in his career and will be coming off an achilles injury. Who is going to back him up will most likely be critical to us ending up 12-5. I am comfortable with AR (if his eye clears up) but most here are not. Any thoughts?

Riley Leonard will be the backup and odds are he’ll see action next year because it seems they are all in on Jones

I said in hindsight, believe me I wanted it to work and I had high hopes but looking back now they were never the same after the Steelers game.

And I gotta be a realist here, I’m not sold on Jones

I think this is going to be true. What a waste of a draft pick if it turns out this way. Ballard was relieved that it was Houston that traded up so we still got to choose AR and didn't get stuck with Will Anderson if my memory serves me right
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IIRC, they were not debating AR or Anderson. They were all in on a QB, so it was AR or Levis.

I have that same impression/memory.

I agree. Our offense was very much exposed at Pitt, and if not for an otherworldly performance by JT we would have been saying the same thing vs. ATL. When KC implemented this gameplan after the half our O became a 3 and out machine. Then this carried over into the Hou game (although Hou doesn't really need to blitz b/c of their DL). Of course we have no idea how much Jones' injury had to play in the KC and Hou games.

Yeah, we seemed hellbent on drafting a QB. Would have been interesting to see if Ballard had read the tea leaves correct and would have traded down or drafted Anderson and attempted to trade up later to draft Levis if someone other than Hou had traded up to 3 and took AR.

Racehorse, that is exactly my point. To the Colts and Ballard, AR/Lewis > Anderson. As others have said, Ballard isn't very good at evaluating pass rushers or QBs.