INDIANAPOLIS — The apathy was apparent.
Several seats at Lucas Oil Stadium were empty Sunday. Several T-shirts honoring late Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, which lined those seats, remained unworn. Several Colts fans chose not to attend.
By the end of the season opener, they likely wished they had.
On the day the Colts inducted Irsay, who died in May, into the Ring of Honor, they routed the Miami Dolphins 33-8 en route to their first season-opening victory since 2013. No one would’ve enjoyed that game more than Irsay. He preached unbridled hope year after year, even after his team fell into a cycle of mediocrity. Sunday may have been the first step out. Irsay, who passed stewardship of the team onto his daughters, probably would have believed it was.
“Someone said the roof is open so he could watch us,” Kalen Jackson, Irsay’s youngest daughter, said in an emotional postgame speech while receiving a game ball in the locker room. “He was with every single one of you, including us, and thank you for doing this for us (his daughters). But for him, he loved this team so much, and this really, really means a lot.
“These types of moments are what meant (everything).”
One of Irsay’s last directives after bringing back general manager Chris Ballard for a ninth season was, “Fix it,” Ballard revealed at the NFL Scouting Combine. Six months later, following an aggressive offseason that included bringing in a new quarterback, Daniel Jones, and a defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo, he appears to have found the right tools.
Jones could be the most important one.
The 2019 No. 6 pick, who the Giants cut last year but has quickly won the confidence of his new teammates, was stellar in his Colts debut. Jones completed 22-of-29 passes for 272 yards, punctuated by a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr in the second quarter. He also scored two rushing touchdowns on a pair of 1-yard plunges in the second and fourth quarters. However, it’s the subtler parts of Jones’ game that set him apart, Colts coach Shane Steichen said.
For example, when Jones connected with rookie tight end Tyler Warren, who finished with an impressive seven catches for 76 yards in his debut, on a 21-yard gain that put Indy in the red zone on its opening drive, it wasn’t just about the throw, Steichen explained. That connection wouldn’t have been possible if Jones hadn’t changed the pre-snap protection.
“The game within the game,” Steichen said. “Those are conversations that happened in offensive (coaching) staff meetings. And then he brings them to the offensive (players) meetings, and he stands up and talks about it like, ‘Hey, here’s what I’m going to do on this, fellas.’ And guys are all locked in and ready to go.”
Jones and the Colts scored on all seven of their drives Sunday with three touchdowns and a perfect 4-for-4 showing on field-goal attempts by kicker Spencer Shrader. The Colts became the first team to score on every possession of a game since at least 1978, per the NFL. Jones is also just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to record at least 250 passing yards and two rushing TDs in a season opener, according to Colts PR. But for as great as Jones played, he hardly acknowledged his hand in the Colts’ win or what it could mean as he tries to revive his career. He wasn’t interested in discussing his vindication, only what lies ahead.
“I think I’ve learned over the years (that) it’s a long season, 17-game season, and you’ve got to play at a high level the whole time,” Jones said. “So, good start. … Some things to clean up and work on, but I think everyone on our team is mature enough, knows enough that we’ve got to continue to grow and improve.
“The best teams in the league continue to build on success.”
#Colts Week 1 recap! pic.twitter.com/38incxny3g
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) September 7, 2025
Charvarius Ward, who also made his Colts debut Sunday, wasn’t satisfied either. But the veteran cornerback and Super Bowl champ still put the league on notice by claiming there are “new sheriffs in town” after Indianapolis’ revamped defense sacked Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa three times and forced him into three turnovers. Tagovailoa was intercepted by free safety Cam Bynum, another Colts newbie, in the first quarter on what Bynum called “a non-confident throw.” In the second quarter, cornerback Kenny Moore II strip-sacked Tagovailoa with ex-Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, whom the Colts signed last month, recovering the fumble.
Indianapolis defensive end Laiatu Latu got in on the fun in the third quarter. With Miami facing third-and-3 from Indianapolis’ 49-yard line, you’d have thought Latu would be trying to get into the backfield. However, instead of chasing after the QB, the second-year defensive end dropped back in coverage and snagged his first NFL interception.
Latu was giddy as he discussed the defense’s nearly flawless performance. The Colts took a 20-point lead into halftime and held the Dolphins to just 43 yards in the first half, which is the fewest amount of first-half yards Miami has had in at least 34 years, per Colts PR. Indianapolis also pitched a shutout through the first three quarters for the first time since 2021, only faltering in the fourth quarter when De’Von Achane scored on an 11-yard reception with just over six minutes left in what had been a 30-0 shellacking.
“This is definitely what he was talking about,” Latu said as he praised Anarumo’s defensive versatility. “You got DBs getting strip sacks and us (defensive linemen) getting picks, so it’s gonna be like that all year long.”
Sure, it was just one game against the Dolphins, who, like the Colts, entered the season with many question marks looming over their franchise. Time will tell if the Colts who showed up Sunday will show up all season. Time will tell if the Colts can end a four-year playoff drought. And time will tell if the Colts can deliver on all of the optimism Irsay would surely have been oozing after that kind of season debut.
“Everything just feels a lot different,” wide receiver AD Mitchell said before hyping up Jones one last time and ducking out of the locker room. “We might’ve found something special.”
(Photo: AJ Mast / Associated Press)
