The 2025 Indianapolis Colts have taken the NFL by storm, racing out to a league-leading 7-1 record on the strength of Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor and an explosive offense that is the only team in the NFL to put up 20-plus points in all of their games this season.
The fast start is good, but coach Shane Steichen would like his club to be playing its best ball come the holiday season.
"You always want to start fast in this league," Steichen said, via The Indianapolis Star. "All 32 teams are trying to start fast and go 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, then get rolling down the stretch. The early-season wins might not be as pretty, or a few stumbles occur while they're sorting things out, but those championship-level clubs are playing their best in the heat of the fall schedule.
"That's where it really starts to pick up," Steichen said. "You've got to play at your very best starting in these next two months."
The Colts have feasted on a cozy early schedule, which included playing five of their first eight games at home. They've also faced the one-win Titans twice, and the two-win Dolphins, Cardinals and Raiders. Their best victories came against the division-leading Broncos and on the road against the Chargers. Indy's lone loss came against the Rams.
The good news for the Colts is that they've not simply stacked wins. For the most part, they've blown the doors off of the opponents they're supposed to beat. That's the sign of a good squad.
Indy's schedule picks up with just one home game in its next six tilts: four roadies against the Steelers, Chiefs, Jaguars and Seahawks, and a Berlin game versus the Falcons. The Colts currently have the third-hardest remaining strength of schedule in the AFC (.554 opp. win pct.).
"The good teams continue to improve," Jones said. "We'll need to continue to do that and play good football down the stretch because, yeah, that's what's most important, is those games in November and then, obviously, into December."
With tougher games ahead, Steichen's club will truly find out what it's made of. We'll see if that No. 1 scoring offense continues to soar under Jones, or if the reality of the colder schedule pulls it back to the pack.
