All elite teams in the NFL know how to win games in multiple ways.
Sometimes it’s blowing out the opponent. Other times, it’s dealing with early adversity and bouncing back to win comfortably. Maybe it comes down to the wire and all it takes is one play to come out victorious. But you also have to know how to win without earning style points.
The Indianapolis Colts did what all good teams do in Sunday’s 31-27 win over the Arizona Cardinals — find a way to win ugly.
After becoming so accustomed to fast starts and not looking back against inferior teams, Indianapolis finally got an opponent who could punch back. For once, it was an up and down game which came down to the wire and featured some adversity.
At no point did the Colts lead by more than a touchdown. Some of that can be attributed to the combination of an efficient Jacoby Brissett-led passing attack and a Colts cornerback group which played without any of its preferred starters.
Maybe it could’ve been a different story if Charvarius Ward hadn’t run into Drew Ogletree during pregame warmups and suffered a concussion. But that’s where the ugly began, and the Colts had to adjust. Still, there was no flinching.
“Obviously you’re concerned for your teammates,” quarterback Daniel Jones said of the freak injury situation which also saw backup quarterback Anthony Richardson suffer a fractured orbital bone. “But there’s a job to do.”
The Colts had to pivot. And their quick reaction — while taking the bad plays in stride — proves this team has the mentality required to pull out wins from difficult games.
After Ward went down, Indy’s starting corners were Chris Lammons, Mekhi Blackmon and undrafted rookie Jonathan Edwards. Between the three of them, they combined for seven starts prior to Sunday.
The inexperience showed. Outside of a Blackmon interception with the Cardinals in the red zone, the passing game struggled to make plays. Even without their top receiver in Marvin Harrison Jr., the Cardinals still gashed Indy’s secondary for 312 yards through the air. That’s the second-most the Colts have allowed in a game this season. The most? When Matt Stafford ripped off 320 passing yards in the Colts’ only loss of the season so far.
All the ingredients were there for the Colts to drop a winnable game at home. Brissett appeared unstoppable. The stingy Cardinals defense wouldn’t give in. With their backs to the wall, trailing 24-17 at the end of the third quarter, the Colts offense knew what they needed to do.
“You always want the ball in your hands with a chance to win the game,” Jones said following the win. He and the offense engineered a six-play, 67-yard game-tying touchdown drive, ending in Josh Downs’ first score of the season.
After an Arizona field goal set Indy back again, Jones and the offense did it again. This time, Jonathan Taylor capped off a nine-play, 66-yard touchdown drive with a one-yard scoring rush, the score that gave the Colts their advantage with 4:32 to play.
Still, there was no sense that the game had been won. The Colts defense had struggled to get stops and find answers for everything Arizona threw at them. Brissett and the Cardinals kept the pressure on, eventually driving down inside the Colts’ 10-yard line.
But a defense, despite all their trouble throughout the afternoon, wouldn’t give in. They would force a game-sealing turnover on downs by the Cardinals, giving the Colts their fifth win on the season.
It was far from pretty. But that’s not the point. The Colts found a way. Even when it seemed difficult, or when things weren’t going their way. That perseverance is a quality exhibited only in teams that have what’s required to dominate their conference.
Teams that lack that confident mentality don’t finish as top seeds, let alone in a playoff spot. That’s what makes this Colts team different from Colts teams of old — there’s no quit, complete buy-in and there’s a true belief in the building that they’re the team to beat in the AFC.
Right now, they are.
But it won’t last long. As of right now, none of the teams Indy has beaten this season has more than three wins. What’s still missing is a signature win over a fellow contender to authenticate their legitimacy.
With a (second) trip out to Los Angeles next week, this time against the 4-2 Chargers, the Colts have their first solid opportunity to add that high-caliber victory to their resume. But until then, the jury is still out on just how competitive the 2025 Colts can be.
