The streak is finally over. It took 12 years, but the Indianapolis Colts finally have a Week 1 win after a 33-8 trouncing of the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
For the past decade and more, the absence of a season-opening victory has dominated the headlines ahead of every year in Indianapolis. And for good reason, as their winless streak was the second-longest in NFL history. But with Daniel Jones helping lead the way to a convincing win, the Colts have put that narrative to bed.
It’s especially sweet considering many within the Colts fanbase had no sense of hope for 2025 with Jones under center. For the quarterback and the team, it was the perfect start.
“This was a day of redemption for the Colts,” CBS Sports writer John Breech said as he gave teams a grade for their Sunday showings.
“On offense, Daniel Jones quieted his critics by playing a nearly perfect game that saw him total 283 yards and three touchdowns (two rushing, one passing). Rookie tight end Tyler Warren showed that he could be a force this year,” he continued.
Jones led scoring drives on all seven of Indy’s offensive possessions, helping the Colts become the first team since 1977 to do so.
Warren’s regular season debut also went as well as it could have gone, as the first-round pick had a performance no Colts tight end had produced in years.
Breech also made sure to give defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo credit for his masterful gameplan, too.
“Lou Anuramo also redeemed himself. The former Bengals defensive coordinator, who was fired by Cincinnati in January, put together a game plan that essentially shut down the Dolphins' high-powered offense. This was arguably the most impressive win by any team in Week 1.”
Breech went on to give the Colts an A+ grade for their dominance. No other team received as high of a mark. While this is an excellent start to a critical season for the Colts, it is just one game against a weak Dolphins defense. So, expectations should be tempered a bit.
Next week against the Broncos’ much more formidable secondary will be a much better measuring stick for where Jones can take the Colts in 2026.