Indianapolis Colts Podcast — Muffed

Indianapolis put seven or more in the box on 17 of Houston's 20 designed runs, the fewest light boxes it has shown this season, and held them to 3.1 yards a run after allowing 5.4 and 5.0 in the first two weeks, while sending five or more rushers on only 16 percent of dropbacks and forcing contested balls on 44 percent of C.J. Stroud's throws, the highest share any defense forced in Week 3.

Three Giveaways, Four Field Goals. The Indianapolis Colts' Week 3 2026 game, broken down by the data. Offense, defense, and the fantasy fallout for every name that matters. Daniel Jones and Josh Downs headline the skill positions.

0:00 Intro

1:52 What happened

3:35 Offense

5:43 Defense

7:25 Fantasy fallout

7:48 Next week

▶ More Colts coverage: https://muffed.ai/teams/IND?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description

#Colts #NFL #FantasyFootball

Indianapolis used play-action on 16 of 33 dropbacks in Kansas City, second-highest of 32 teams after ranking 25th in Week 1, while Daniel Jones's contested-throw rate held at 29 percent for a second straight game and the defense sent five or more rushers less often than all but one team.

Thirty Points Was Not Enough. The Indianapolis Colts' Week 2 2026 game, broken down by the data. Offense, defense, and the fantasy fallout for every name that matters. Daniel Jones and Josh Downs headline the skill positions.

0:00 Intro

1:56 What happened

4:01 Offense

5:25 Defense

6:49 Fantasy fallout

7:19 Next week

▶ More Colts coverage: https://muffed.ai/teams/IND?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description

#Colts #NFL #FantasyFootball

Indianapolis showed a light box on 9 of Baltimore's 31 designed runs — 29 percent, about half the 56.8 percent this defense showed across all of 2025 — and those runs still went for 167 yards; on the other side Daniel Jones put 24 of 31 throws in a catchable spot, eighth-highest in the league in Week 1, with three of them dropped and Baltimore using play-action on 10 of 29 dropbacks.

Eighty-Eight Passing Yards in the First Half. The Indianapolis Colts' Week 1 2026 game, broken down by the data. Offense, defense, and the fantasy fallout for every name that matters. Daniel Jones and Josh Downs headline the skill positions.

0:00 Intro

2:01 What happened

4:11 Offense

5:23 Defense

5:44 Fantasy fallout

▶ More Colts coverage: https://muffed.ai/teams/IND?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description

#Colts #NFL #FantasyFootball

Two things our last episode did not carry lead this one: Keenan Allen was arrested on misdemeanor drunk-driving charges hours after his Colts debut, and Chris Ballard on Tuesday backed him and said he is expected to play against Baltimore; and Cam Taylor-Britt is suspended for the opener, which is why Indianapolis spent its one waiver claim on a cornerback, Philadelphia's Kapena Gushiken, at the cost of its ninth offensive lineman. Blake Grupe went to the Jets, Colby Wooden to the Saints. Daniel Jones' tendon is still the story, and Ballard put a number on the camp it got.

Daniel Jones will open the season against the Ravens without a single game snap since his December Achilles tear — the Colts held him out of the preseason finale a day before it, reversing the stated plan. The 53 kept all three quarterbacks with no backup named, Spencer Shrader won the kicking job with a 5-for-5 preseason, and cutdown day brought a trade for a Buffalo center after Indianapolis moved on from every other reserve in the room.

Daniel Jones threw no incompletions in Wednesday's joint practice against the Falcons, per the team's own notebook, eight months removed from his Achilles tear. The Colts also signed Keenan Allen, watched their backups lose 34-6 to Atlanta with almost every starter resting, and pointed at the next test: Steichen says starters play the finale against Detroit, which would be Jones' first game snaps since the injury.

The joint practice in Foxborough was the real test, and Jones passed it — a first-team two-minute touchdown drive against Drake Maye's defense in his first live-rush environment since the Achilles. Then the Colts sat him for the game entirely, tied the Patriots 13-13 with backups, and got DeForest Buckner back in team work without ever announcing it.