1. Tyler Warren made an immediate impact both with and without the ball in his hands.

Daniel Jones targeted Warren on two of his first three pass attempts with the Colts, flipping a play-action rollout to an open Warren – who chipped and released edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to work into space – and then sidestepping interior pressure to connect with Warren over the middle two plays later. Then, with the ball on the Dolphins' 32-yard line, Warren worked an out-and-up route through Miami's zone defense, with Jones finding him down the far sideline for a 21-yard gain (Warren caught the pass through contact from safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, whose attempt to shoulder bump Warren made little impact).

What Warren did as a pass catcher in his NFL debut was impressive. But let's look at something he did – and just what his presence on the field meant – on a play when he didn't get the ball.

The Dolphins, after that first series, were alerted to the Colts getting the ball to their first-round pick through the air. On the first play of the second quarter, that focus helped the Colts get a touchdown – even though Warren wasn't targeted on the play.

Facing a second-and-20, Jones dropped back as the Dolphins rotated into Cover-2 after the snap. While Dolphins cornerback Storm Duck didn't get enough depth on wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.'s vertical route, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu wasn't over the top on the play. That's because he was keyed on Warren, who pressed a vertical route toward the numbers before bending it back toward the hashmarks. As Jones set his feet to loft the ball to Pittman, Melifonwu's hips flipped toward the hashes, with the safety concerned about Warren – even though linebacker Jordyn Brooks did have good depth to cover Warren vertically.

Jones threw the pass early, well before Melifonwu could correct things, and Pittman (who ran a great route against that coverage) caught it off his fingertips for a walk-in 27-yard touchdown.

"They were in Cover-2 and Tyler was running a little seam down the middle, bending it down the middle, and the safety kind of stayed inside the numbers," Steichen said. "I thought Daniel did a great job of seeing that, and Pitt did a heck of a job with his release slipping inside the corner, keeping his footing and then getting back out to that dead spot versus (Cover) 2. It was a great play by everybody."

This is where, though, the gravity of Warren's presence came into play. Maybe Melifonwu should've stayed wider toward the numbers, but after the Colts quickly established Warren was going to be a focal point of their passing game, it feels hard to blame him for being concerned Jones was going to look the rookie's way on this play.

And it's a beautiful sight when you pause the tape and see two defenders circling Warren while Pittman runs free down the sideline. That's one way how having a dynamic threat like Warren can impact a passing offense, whether he's being thrown the ball or not.

One other thing here: Warren earned an 88.6 Pro Football Focus run blocking grade on 24 snaps, which – before Monday Night Football – is the highest PFF run block grade among tight ends with at least 10 run blocking snaps in Week 1.

2. Inside Daniel Jones' deep completion to Alec Pierce.

Jones and Pierce convened during halftime to get on the same page for a possible shot play to use in the second half. That opportunity came quickly after defensive end Laiatu Latu dropped into coverage and picked off Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa early in the third quarter (more on that play later).

On the first play after that interception, Jones went for the shot. From under center, Jones faked a handoff to running back Jonathan Taylor and hit the back of his drop in a clean pocket (more on that in a bit, too). Pierce, on the outside, faked an inside release and got cornerback Rasul Douglas to bite for a split-second, giving the speedy receiver space to accelerate vertically outside the numbers. Pierce drifted toward the sideline, knowing safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was over the top.

Jones, without hesitating, ripped the throw, which was on the money in a place only Pierce could get about 33 yards downfield. Pierce made a twisting catch, tapped his right foot to get two feet down, and picked up 36 yards on the catch.

"We talked about it at halftime, thought it was something we wanted to attack there," Pierce said. "We were really looking for off coverage but they came up and pressed it, and I just got the release. From there, I knew I had to get to the sideline because the safety was over the top a little bit.

"Great ball by Daniel. I just appreciate that he believed in me, coach believed in me."

Jones completed both of his other throws of 20 or more air yards on Sunday as well. But the Colts were able to generate five other explosive plays through well-executed "simple" concepts, like a quick swing pass to tight end Mo Alie-Cox that led to a 20-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter.

Jones, on Sunday, showed he could do both – complete the deep shots when they're there, and quickly diagnose a defense to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers in advantageous looks. To that point, he did a fantastic job operating Steichen's offense, which he described to me in last week's episode of The Colts Show Podcast as being "genius" in its simplicity.

3. Matt Goncalves and Tanor Bortolini held up against a tough test.

The Dolphins sent a blitz on 30 of the Colts' 70 offensive plays, per Pro Football Focus, which wasn't a surprise given defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver called blitzes at the fifth-highest rate in the NFL in 2024. But those pressure looks meant the Colts' two second-year interior offensive linemen – center Tanor Bortolini and right guard Matt Goncalves – would have some challenging things to sort through Sunday.

Against those blitzes – 21 of which were on passing plays – Bortolini and Goncalves allowed one pressure between the two of them.

"As a guard transitioning to a new position, just knowing where your eyes are and knowing the protection calls and all that stuff," Goncalves said. "Kind of a challenge, but I think we did a good job handling it."

More notable here, though, was how Goncalves sorted out a blitz on Jones' deep ball to Pierce.

First things first: For a shot play to work, everything has to go right – or, to put it another way, if one thing goes wrong, it won't work. The Colts' blocking up front was excellent on it, with left tackle Bernhard Raimann, left guard Quenton Nelson and right tackle Braden Smith all locking up their guys one-on-one. Tight ends Drew Ogletree and Mo Alie-Cox both stayed back to block in a max protection look, but where this was keyed was from the feel and recognition of Goncalves.

Goncalves and Bortolini, at the snap, combo blocked defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. The Dolphins, though, were sending pressure, with linebacker Tyrel Dodson patiently waiting to attack the C-gap (between Smith and Alie-Cox), where safety Ifeatu Melifonwu was also blitzing. Alie-Cox picked up Melifonwu, and Dodson sensed he could get a run at Jones through that opening. But Goncalves – who initially called over to Smith to try to get him off his block and on to Dodson – saw the linebacker darting toward the C-gap and quickly got off his combo block, then athletically shifted to his right and stonewalled Dodson.

The result was the clean pocket Jones needed to make a throw that required pinpoint accuracy well downfield.

"I thought I did a good job coming off and sealing that guy up," Goncalves said, "so Dimes can make a throw."

4. "Lou was calling that game like a madman."

On Tua Tagovailoa's third pass attempt of the game – a third-and-eight at the Colts' 40-yard line – he hit the back of his drop and expected to see wide receiver Tyreek Hill working into open space a couple yards past the sticks over the middle.

Instead, he saw safety Nick Cross occupying the space he thought would be open. Tagovailoa threw the ball anyway, sailing it over the outstretched arms of Hill and into the waiting hands of safety Cam Bynum for an interception. And from there – the 8:20 mark of the first quarter– the Colts sensed their defense was already making Tagovailoa indecisive.

"He has to put the ball in a certain spot, but if he has to rush it and you make one mistake, like he did, overthrew it," Bynum said. "Tyreek couldn't touch the ball and I was able to get the ball. It's one of those things where it's just defense playing together. Yeah, I got the overthrow, but Nick did his job by being in the window, forcing the ball to be thrown higher."

The Colts built on that first interception with three sacks and another pick. Only two of those three sacks were by defensive backs – Cross and Kenny Moore II thumped Tagovailoa's blind side, with Moore forcing a fumble on his blitz – and the other interception was by Laiatu Latu, a defensive end.

Welcome to the Lou Anarumo experience, everybody.

"Lou was calling that game like a madman," Bynum said. "I loved it."

On Cross' sack, Tagovailoa pointed to Moore, thinking he was going to blitz again from the slot. As soon as he sent fullback Alec Ingold in motion, Cross crept up toward the line of scrimmage; at the snap, Tagovailoa didn't see him flying off the edge. What he did see was defensive end Kwity Paye dropping into coverage, though.

On Latu's interception, linebacker Cameron McGrone blitzed from depth – he didn't creep toward the line until milliseconds before the snap – and Latu backpedaled 10 yards to jump in front of a pass intended for wide receiver Malik Washington.

"We kind of confused them a little bit and we had a great game plan," cornerback Charvarius Ward Sr. said.

Anarumo threw a handful of creative, disguised pressure packages – like putting eight guys on the line of scrimmage and having five of them blitz – and consistently called coverages to get Colts defenders into Tagovailoa's preferred throwing lanes.

The final results were grim for the Dolphins but impressive for the Colts. Miami didn't score a single point and averaged just 3.7 yards per play over the first three quarters, during which Tagovailoa had a passer rating of 38.2. While the Colts' defense didn't complete the shutout – running back De'Von Achane slipped his way into the end zone on a fourth down in the fourth quarter – this was a truly dominant performance from the players on the field to Anarumo on the sideline.

"Being able to have the variety that he was able to call the game with and being aggressive at times we should be aggressive, being a little more passing in certain situations, just mixing it up made it hard for the offense to pick up," Bynum said. "I got to see where Lou's mind is at. I know it's going to be a fun year playing defense for him."

5. One last observation on defense.

This is about Ebukam's sack – a nice moment for the veteran who missed the entire 2024 season due to a torn Achilles' sustained in training camp. And came from another funky look deployed by Anarumo's defense.

On the play, the Colts lined up with three defensive linemen to the right of the center: Latu (lined up over the center's right shoulder), Tyquan Lewis (lined up over the right tackle) and Ebukam (lined up wide of the right tackle). To the left was linebacker Zaire Franklin, who crept up between the guard and tackle, and DeForest Buckner, who was lined up outside of the left tackle.

At the snap, all five players rushed. Franklin occupied the left tackle, while Latu looped outside Buckner, who was being blocked by a tight end and a running back. The running back, Achane, had eyes on Buckner but quickly turned his head to the right, where Ebukam was looping inside around Lewis. Buckner plowed through Achane and forced Tagovailoa off his spot; Tagovailoa tried to scrambled up the middle, but Ebukam fought his way in to bring him down for the sack.

The Dolphins only sent three players out in routes, opting to have a tight end and running back stay back to protect, and it didn't work. The Colts' front overwhelmed Miami, leading to a sack on third-and-8.