The last time I wrote about the Colts, it was following last year's season-ending fumble/trick-play-meltdown combo that took them out of the playoff picture for good, and I promised you that "this will be the last time you have to think about the Colts this year." I secretly intended that promise to hold true for more than just that season: They were stuck in quarterback limbo, and their coach and GM hadn't proven they could oversee a winning team, and their owner was a coot. But these aren't your father's Colts anymore! Because he died.
Jim Irsay reupped Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard before passing away, bequeathing them, perhaps unwelcomely, to his daughters and new primary owners Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, and Kalen Jackson. The Colts signed castoff Daniel Jones to provide some baseline competence until they could figure out if Anthony Richardson actually sucks (he does) and they could draft a new QB. It felt like 2025 was already a lost season: not bad enough to be funny or amass high picks, not good enough to compete.
And then the Colts were awesome! I'm still not quite sure how it happened; I will disbelieve my own memories within a few years. They looked like world-beaters. They started 7-1, and Jonathan Taylor was racking up workhorse numbers from another era, and Daniel Dimes, who had won the position battle in preseason, had a real-deal MVP case. The Colts! These Colts!
Then it all went to hell. Cornerback Sauce Gardner, acquired for the eye-widening price of two first-round draft picks, lasted two games and two snaps before getting injured. Danthony Dimes broke his fibula, which sounds like it should be more debilitating than it apparently actually is, and his numbers suffered. Then, in this weekend's 36-19 loss to the Jaguars, Jones's other leg gave up the ghost. It couldn't have been a more depressing game: steady rain, ceding the division lead to the Jags, and Jones going down for the year and possibly longer with a torn Achilles tendon.
This is really not good for Daniel Jones. Looks like he knows he's done-done. Grabbed his knee, then calf/Achilles
— Ollie Connolly (@ollieconnolly.bsky.social) 2025-12-07T18:47:34.704Z
The Colts' season is over. You might say they're still 8-5, and only out of a wild card slot by dint of a tiebreak, but you need to be realistic. Sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard is now the quarterback, backed up by journeyman QB2 Brett Rypien. (Richardson broke his face in a freak stretch-band accident in October.) They're in the toughest part of their schedule now, closing out with four straight against playoff-positioned teams. It's over.
Even worse, it might be over for a while. Jones's injury has a nine-month recovery, making him no sure thing to be ready for next season. Indianapolis was surely going to bring him back after his one-year deal, but now they face the prospect of having to make a decision on re-signing him before they'll know if he's going to be healthy to start the year. Finding a top-tier QB in the draft will be that much harder without any first-round picks until 2028, thanks to the Sauce Gardner trade.
That trade is looking pretty rough in hindsight—but you know what they say about hindsight. While a team is usually not actually "one player away" (or at least the teams that think they are, aren't), I'm never going to knock a team for Going For It. The NFL is weird. Weird things happen. All you can do is wait for one of those seasons when all the stars start to align, and make that roster as talented as you possibly can. Sometimes that means mortgaging the future. Rarely does it pay off with a championship. But it never works to say Ah, we're probably good enough already.
That said: This will be the last time you have to think about the Colts this year.
