The 2025 Indianapolis Colts took the NFL by storm, racing to a 7-1 league record on the strength of Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor and a explosive offense that is the only team in the NFL to post 20-plus points in all of their games this season.
A fast start is good, but coach Shane Steichen wants his club to play their best football over the holidays.
“You always want to start fast in this league,” Steichen said, via the Indy Star. “All 32 teams are trying to start fast and win as many as you can. September (October) – great. But I think the season starts in November, December.”
The best clubs use the first half of the season to figure out what they do best and then start rolling. The early-season wins may not be as pretty, or there may be a few stumbles while they’re sorting things out, but these championship teams are playing their best in the heat of the fall schedule.
“That’s where it really starts to pick up,” Steichen said. “You have to play your best from the next two months.”
The Colts have enjoyed a comfortable schedule, which included five of their first eight games at home. They also faced the 1-win Titans twice, and the 2-win Dolphins, Cardinals and Raiders. Their best wins came against the league-leading Broncos and on the road against the LA Chargers. Indy’s only loss came against the LA Rams.
The good news for Indianapolis is that they haven’t simply racked up wins. For the most part, they have blown the doors off the opponents they are meant to defeat. That’s a sign of a good team.
The schedule picks up with just one home game in the next six tilts: four road contests against the Steelers, Chiefs, Jaguars and Seahawks, and a Berlin game against the Falcons. Indy currently has the third-worst remaining strength of schedule in the AFC (.554 game win pct.).
“The good teams keep getting better,” Jones said. “We have to keep doing that and play good football going forward because yes, that’s the most important thing, these games in November and then, obviously, until December.”
With tougher games ahead, Steichen’s club will certainly find out what they are made of. We’ll see if the No. 1 scoring offense continues to soar under Jones, or if the realities of a cooler schedule pull them back into the fold.