The Indianapolis Colts took their undefeated show on the road, walking into Nissan Stadium and leaving with a 41-20 win over a division rival in the Tennessee Titans. Some wondered if the success of the Colts was lightning in a bottle that could only be tapped into inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Others wondered if the 2-0 start was a facade, similar to the 2-0 New Orleans Saints of 2024. Once again, Indianapolis answered the questions and rejected the doubts surrounding the Colts with an emphatic victory.
It didn’t take long for the Colts to assert themselves as the better team on the field, as Kenny Moore II took an interception to the house on the very first drive of the game. Not only did that turnover put seven early points on the board for Indianapolis, it rattled Cam Ward and sent the Titans reeling before a minute of game time had passed.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones completed 18 of 25 passes, throwing for 228 yards and a touchdown. His leading receiver was Michael Pittman Jr., who caught all six balls thrown his way for 73 yards and the lone passing touchdown of the game. Running back Jonathon Taylor emerged as the star of the show offensively, totaling 102 yards off of 17 carries, three of which resulted in a touchdown.
Conversely, Ward completed 23 of 38 pass attempts for 219 yards, a touchdown and the interception to Moore. Tight end Chig Okonkwo racked up the most yards through the air for Tennessee, ending the day with 66, while Elig Ayomanor scored the team’s only passing touchdown. Tony Pollard was the leading rusher for the Titans, ending with 45 yards and a touchdown off of 16 carries.
Working off the momentum of the pick six on Ward’s first drive, the Indianapolis pass rush got after the Tennessee quarterback, sacking him four times and recording seven QB hits. Ward fleeing from pressure on many of the game’s critical passing downs, along with the stacks of rookie mistakes made by the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, handicapped the Tennessee offense. Ward had yet to find a rhythm, and the Titans had yet to reach the end zone until the third quarter.
Beyond the spectacular Indianapolis pass rush, Tennessee dealt a significant amount of damage to their own chances of winning their first divisional test of the season. Ward made a series of rookie mistakes, as he misread the defense and missed his receivers on multiple dropback pass plays. While many of these mistakes are excusable for a young quarterback, plenty of the mistakes made by the team at large are not.
Tennessee was guilty of eight penalties that cost them a total 68 yards Sunday afternoon, excluding a few that were declined by Indianapolis. Many of the penalties occurred before the snap or avoidable, procedural miscues.
Additionally, Tennessee struggled with a great deal of game and clock management issues. At the end of the first half, down 17-6 with a chance to cut the deficit to a single possession, the Titans faced a fourth-and-1 from the Indianapolis 39-yard line. Instead of electing to keep Ward and the offense on the field, Tennessee set up for a field goal.
While that decision in and of itself is not overly controversial, the context of the moment is what caused the outrage in Nashville. The Colts had taken a timeout, during which the Titans failed to determine how they planned to approach the upcoming play. As a result, head coach Brian Callahan took a timeout of his own. After both timeouts, the Titans still managed to draw a delay of game flag, pushing the field goal attempt five yards back. The kick was deflected, and the fans booed the team into the locker room.
The delay of game was explained away as a miscommunication between the Tennessee sideline and the officials, resulting in a quarterback’s ball being inserted into the field of play instead of a kicking ball. Regardless of the cause of the mishap, Tennessee flamed out toward the end of the second half in alarming and concerning fashion. To make matters worse, Indianapolis took advantage of the deflected kick and put three points on the board with a kick of their own as time expired.
The Titans managed the end of the second half poorly, as well. The offense lacked a sense of urgency while down three possessions in the fourth quarter, traversing the field for a 16-play drive that lasted nearly eight minutes. It appeared as if the Titans had accepted defeat in a home divisional game, despite a comeback being well within the realm of possibility.
The offense of the Indianapolis Colts was the complete antithesis of Tennessee’s. The Colts led another balanced offensive attack that resulted in four touchdowns. Head coach Shane Steichen’s offense scored a season high of 41 points, which is all the more impressive knowing that this game was played away from Lucas Oil Stadium.
After the game, Steichen had plenty of praise for his boys in blue.
“Great team win,” Steichen said. “We talked about being relentless and disciplined for 60 minutes this week, that was the focus, I thought our guys came out and did that.”
As the Colts exit week three of the regular season with that same number in the win column, the league has absolutely by now been alerted that the Indianapolis Colts are a force to be reckoned with. The question now is, how far can the Colts go this season? On a similar note, when, if ever, will the Colts suffer their first loss?
Indianapolis will more than likely be challenged in week four, as they stay on the road and pay a visit to the 2-1 Los Angeles Rams at 4:05 p.m. Sunday. The Tennessee Titans are next in action Sunday at 1 p.m. against another divisional opponent in the Texans, who they will play in Houston.
Regardless of whether or not Indianapolis remains unbeaten after the trip to Los Angeles, Indianapolis has far exceeded expectations through the first three weeks of the season. The win over Tennessee proves that this team can win on the road. The upcoming test against the Rams goes one step further, as a win in Los Angeles would prove that the Colts are capable of beating a 2024 divisional round playoff team and 2025 playoff contender on the road. Time will tell if Indianapolis will be able to do so in week four.
