Let's start with a fun fact: The Colts, on Sunday, will face the NFL Draft's No. 1 pick for the sixth consecutive season.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward will follow Joe Burrow (2020), Trevor Lawrence (2021), Travon Walker (2022), Bryce Young (2023) and Caleb Williams (2024) in facing the Colts a few months after being drafted first overall. What does it mean, though? Not much.
Here's a less fun fact: The Colts haven't won the AFC South since 2014, the franchise's longest division championship drought since an 11-year streak ended in 1999.
And while the Colts are 2-0 and sit alone atop the AFC South, head coach Shane Steichen has reminded his team of a few things this week. First, it's only Week 3. Second, this is a critical week to maintain focus and discipline after beating the Denver Broncos in dramatic fashion last weekend.
"I don't think we're putting too much into looking at the division at this point," quarterback Daniel Jones said. "I mean, we're two games into the season, and sure it's good – great to get off to a fast start, but everyone knows there's a lot of football to play and we know that. So yeah, obviously we'd rather be 2-0, but there's a lot in front of us and we've got to continue to improve as a team."
| AFC South Standings | Record |
|---|---|
| 1. Colts | 2-0 |
| 2. Jaguars | 1-1 |
| 3. Texans | 0-2 |
| 4. Titans | 0-2 |
It's probably not a coincidence that the Colts' last winning record against AFC South opponents (4-2, 2020) coincided with the team's last playoff appearance. In fact, the Colts have never made the playoffs while having a losing record against the AFC South, which formed in 2002; they've only reached the postseason one time with a 3-3 record against divisional opponents. The punchline there is that 3-3 record came in 2006 – the season, of course, in which the Colts won the Super Bowl.
Again, it's just Week 3, so it's still way too early for the Colts to start thinking about winning their division and hosting a home playoff game for the first time in over a decade.
"Definitely starting off 2-0 with two AFC wins is going to be huge," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "We've been in that situation before where you're looking in at the end of the season and you're like, 'Man, if we would've won that Week 2 game, it would have been a big deal.'
"I think my boy (Xavier) McKinney with the Packers said it best. A lot of teams start off 2-0 and end up not being nothing. Like I said, we've just got to stick to our process, continue to be diligent and just win this week."
Sticking to that process, as Franklin said, has been a message delivered by Steichen this week and echoed through the Colts' team leaders. While the Colts are off to a strong start, there are things that need to improve on both offense and defense. And no matter how much the Titans have struggled to begin the season, there's an acknowledgement that divisional games are usually tight – just look at Thursday night's Buffalo Bills-Miami Dolphins tilt, which was tied at 21 into the fourth quarter before the Bills (3-0) pulled away from the Dolphins (0-3) for a 31-21 win.
And the other thing about the Titans is those inside the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center see a team that's better than its 0-2 record suggests. That starts with a quarterback in Ward who's playing beyond what his stats may indicate.
While Ward has completed 50.8 percent of his passes, is averaging 4.7 yards per attempt and has been sacked a league-leading 11 times, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo – who watches film before checking any opponent's stats – said he doesn't see Ward's numbers lining up with what the first-year quarterback has put on tape so far.
"You see a super talented guy," Anarumo said. "I think you see a guy that's willing to take some chances, calculated risks, and force the ball down the field some. I think that's a part of any good quarterback. The guys that just play it safe never truly become what you really want as a quarterback. Those guys are going to make some mistakes, especially early in their careers. But I see a guy that sees the field well. Are there things that he can clean up? Sure, that's everybody, but I see a guy – that I feel like they've got a heck of a quarterback."
Ward, in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, made several impressive throws – but Titans pass-catchers only caught 70.6 percent of their catchable targets, per Pro Football Focus, the lowest rate in the league that week.
While the Titans gave up 33 points to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2, that might say more about the Rams – the Colts' Week 4 opponent – than Dennard Wilson's Tennessee defense. Wilson has thrown some funky pressure looks and coverages at both the Broncos and Rams, and the Titans' four takeaways are tied for the second-most in the NFL entering Week 3.
If you expand things back from the start of the 2024 season – in which the Titans had the worst record in the NFL – through Week 2, you'll see a few things Tennessee does well defensively. First: In that span, the Titans allowed a success rate of just 33.7 percent, eighth-best in the NFL, and they are above league average in both explosive passing rate allowed (13.1 percent, 12th) and explosive run rate allowed (12.3 percent, 16th).
"I've got a lot of respect for Dennard Wilson, their D-coordinator," Steichen said. :"I had a chance to be with him in Philly – aggressive style, attacking defense, multiple looks. Got a good front. Starts up front with 98 (Jeffery) Simmons. He's one of the best in the league. So, got to control him as much as possible."
While Steichen is undefeated in four games against the Titans as Colts head coach, those games have all been decided by one score (38-30, 20-17, 31-28OT, 23-16). That's par for the course; all six of the Colts' AFC South games in 2024 were decided by eight or fewer points, and five were decided by three or fewer points.
So the Titans are 0-2 and the Colts are 2-0, but those records might not lead to a lopsided outcome on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
"I feel like we're pretty grounded," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. "I mean, we just preach every week that we are taking it one day at a time, continue to get better each and every day. Whatever we did in the past, last week, nobody cares about. That's the nature of this game, the nature of this league. Nobody cares about what you did last week. It's what you are going to do this week. So, we've got to continue to prove ourselves each and every week."
