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Colts outlast Broncos in Week 2 seek AFC South control in Week 3 at Tennessee

September 20, 2025

September 20, 2025 – JR McHenry, On-Air Talent/Field Reporter

INDIANAPOLIS — On a sunny late summer day in the 80s outside of Lucas Oil Stadium, the roof and window was closed to create an ideal environment inside for the “White Out” which was the theme of the day. Fans were given “For The Shoe” rally towels to further enhance the environment.

This was a day of a lengthy drives for both offenses controlling the clock with a good balance of the run and pass forcing the defenses to go into “bend but don’t break” mode and try to hold their opponent to field goals rather than touchdowns. Defensively the Colts gave up 4 touchdowns but forced 3 Broncos punts and benefited from a Cam Bynum interception in addition to missed field goal from Wil Lutz. The Colts extended their streak of scoring on every possession to 10 before being stopped on downs in the 2nd quarter. This is also the 2nd game in a row the Colts did not punt. In total the Colts scored on 7 of their 10 possessions with 5 field goals and 2 touchdowns accounting for the scoring.

The key moment that changed the momentum and opened the door for the Colts was the interception thrown by Bo Nix in the 4th quarter on the plus side of the field after the Broncos defense stiffened and stopped the Colts on 4th down. Had the Broncos not turn the ball over the score could have been at a minimum 31-23, a one score game forcing the Colts to have to go for a 2 point conversion to tie the game.

The Colts with a reprieve go down and get a field goal to make the score 28-26 with 8:33 to go in the 4th quarter. On the next drive, the Broncos seem to be in control wearing the Colts down with running game and short passing game, then another turning point happens after 23 yard run from J.K. Dobbins, he spikes the ball in celebration which draws a 5 yd delay of game penalty which kills the momentum, moves the Broncos back and stops the clock saving the Colts time on the backend. On the next play, Adam Trautman gets a 15 yard face mask penalty moving the Broncos back further forcing them into a simple checkdown play on 3rd down to make the field goal attempt easier for Wil Lutz, but unfortunately for the Broncos the field goal attempt from Lutz clanked off the right upright opening the door for the Colts to beat them with only a field goal and not a touchdown.

The final drive yielded some questionable clock management by Colts Coach Shane Steichen. The Colts were clearly playing for a field goal and trying to bleed out the clock to leave no time left, but they were settling for a 60 yard field goal rather than something closer. On the 60 yard attempt, Spencer Shrader’s kick was short and no good, but there was a penalty on the play for leverage moving the ball 15 yards closer. Finally, the 45 yard attempt after the penalty from Spencer Shrader was good setting off a celebration at Lucas Oil Stadium on “White Out Day” to move the Colts to 2-0 on the season before heading to Tennessee to play the Titans in Week 3.

As the Colts hit the road, the injury report is pretty clean at the time of this posting with only two guys listed as questionable for the game at Nissan Stadium. Tennessee despite the 0-2 record has competed hard against Denver in Week 1 and the LA Rams in Week 2, so the Colts can not take them lightly. The key to this game offensively is more of the same that we’ve seen in the first two weeks of the season, establish the run with Jonathan Taylor force the defense to commit more resources to the box and pop them with the efficient play-action pass game from Daniel Jones with timely shots down the field when Tennessee plays man or underneath when Tennessee gets spread too thin in their zone coverages. Defensively this would be a great opportunity to dial up some simulated pressures and zone blitzes to confuse the young offensive line and number one draft Cam Ward and the Tennessee forcing them into some tough down and distances potentially causing some turnovers and short fields for the Colts offense.

In other AFC South action, Houston travels to Jacksonville. Although it’s early, every game matters, especially division games. Houston comes into Jacksonville with a 0-2 record while Jacksonville has a 1-1 record. From a Colts perspective, a Houston win to move to 1-2 and dropping Jacksonville to 1-2 is more beneficial assuming they win in Tennessee to move to 3-0 moves them a full 2 games ahead of Houston and Jacksonville in the AFC South division race before playing those two teams later in the season starting in Week 13 and Week 14 and again in Week 17 and Week 18.

Here’s postgame sound from the Colts victory over the Broncos: