Colts vs. Broncos preview: Shane Steichen, Daniel Jones face stiff challenge against Vance Joseph, Pat Surtain II and Denver defense

The Colts' Week 1 win over the Miami Dolphins, as you've probably heard, seen or read a hundred times by now, was the team's first season-opening victory since 2013.

But for the Colts, ending that streak didn't mean anything once they re-convened at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center Monday morning.

"Nothing against Miami really matters anymore," cornerback and team captain Kenny Moore II said on this week's episode of The Colts Show Podcast. "You just gotta turn the page and flip the script."

From a national media perspective, the Colts were talked about as one of the league's biggest surprises of Week 1 – not just that they won, but in how they thoroughly dismantled the Dolphins on both sides of the ball. Internally, though, there was nothing surprising about winning, 33-8, to begin the 2025 season. And that means there's nothing different going on behind the scenes as the Colts prepare for Week 2.

"Win, loss – I mean, nobody cares what you did last week," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. "They only care about this week. So yeah, I mean guys have got to move on to – like that's what we do on Mondays. We watch the film, see what we did well, continue to build off of that. And the things that we didn't do so well, we've got to continue to learn from it and get better at it. Everybody's main focus is on beating the Broncos."

And beating a Denver team that took down the Colts, 31-13, last year on its way to the playoffs will be a challenge not just on both sides of the ball, but in all three phases – special teams included (returner Marvin Mims Jr. played a key role in that Broncos win last year). For this week's game preview, though, we're going to focus on the Colts' offense against the Broncos' defense – especially in light of what both units did in Week 1.

When the Colts have the ball

The Broncos' defense dealt 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward a miserable debut, despite the Tennessee Titans' quarterback making several impressive decisions and throws at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday. The Titans' pass-catchers didn't help – Tennessee caught just 70.6 of its catchable targets in Week 1, per Pro Football Focus, the lowest percentage in the league – but that game was a masterclass showing from defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and the Broncos' defense.

After one week, Denver ranks first or in the top five in a litany of key stats:

Denver's defense has several highly-paid, top-of-the-league players, including edge rusher Nik Bonitto, defensive tackle Zach Allen and cornerback Pat Surtain II – the latter of whom earned 2024 AP Defensive Player of the Year honors. Both Bonitto and Allen were second-team AP All-Pros last year as well.

"They do a lot of good things," head coach Shane Steichen said. "I think it starts up front. I think 15 (Bonitto) is a hell of a player. Obviously, just got paid a lot of money for a good reason. I think Allen is a good player. No. 2, Surtain II, he's one of the best in the business.

"They're aggressive. They like to play in your face and match and rush and cover. I think Vance Joseph does a heck of a job with the scheme. Had a chance to go against him for many years. A lot of respect there for those guys and the way they play and how hard they play."

A notable difference the Colts may see in Week 2 versus Week 1 is the rate of man coverage they'll face. Per Pro Football Focus, the Broncos played the third-most snaps in man (29) of any team in Week 1; on those, they generated five sacks and held Ward to just three completions for 31 yards.

And while the Broncos played some form of man coverage on 51 percent of their defensive snaps, the Dolphins in Week 1 were at just 26 percent. So, potentially, the Colts could face double the rate of man in Week 2 than they saw in Week 1.

Surtain, the first cornerback since Stephon Gilmore (2019) to win Defensive Player of the Year, leads those efforts as a lock-down defender anywhere he lines up.

"They've got a bunch of good players on that defense, but he's an excellent one," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. "There's no surprise there, no shock saying that. They're going to put him in certain positions to try to give them the best chance to have success on defense. So whether they're moving him around, following somebody, or they're picking certain parts of the field that they put them on, or they're switching it up to keep the offense off track or unable to find him, they're going to have their plan to most effectively use him."

The Colts, though, have an offense predicated on spreading the ball around to five viable pass-catching threats, which could help mitigate some of Surtain's impact.

"It sure is great to be able to spread the ball around, wherever the ball needs to go and shoot, every now and then we're going to look up and (Pat) Surtain II is going to be out there, and he might be on the side where our first read is, or he might be on the other side," Cooter said. "We're unable to predict that, but we get five good eligible receivers out there, and if the first guy doesn't win, the second one we hope will."

One other thing here: The Colts' pass-catchers spent training camp practicing against plenty of man coverage looks from Lou Anarumo's defense, and enter 2025 feeling more prepared to take on sticky man coverage because of it.

"How much man they play has definitely helped us out," wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. said in a conversation on The Colts Show back in August. "In past defenses, we played a lot of zone, so in games that we did get man we didn't necessarily have the same toolbox that we have now because we go up against it every single day. I think it's going to help us out a lot once we play those teams that are man teams."

So that's a look at one thing from the Colts' pass-catchers against the Broncos' secondary. But it's impossible to understate how the Broncos' rush and coverage work together, as Steichen said – and that's successful because Denver has such a menacing, productive defensive front.

The Broncos sent a blitz on 18 of 57 defensive snaps in Week 1, good for the 11th-highest rate in the NFL (the Dolphins blitzed on 43.8 percent of the time, the highest rate in the NFL). Last year, Denver's defense had the third-highest blitz rate in the NFL (35.5 percent); on blitzes, they allowed 4.9 yards per play (7th), forced 10 turnovers (2nd) and generated 35 sacks (T-2nd). Against the Titans, Denver allowed – and this is not a typo – negative 2.4 yards per play when blitzing.

Against Miami, though, the Colts handled those blitzes well, averaging 6.9 yards per play (7th) with zero sacks and a pressure rate allowed of just 28.6 percent (3rd). Center Tanor Bortolini and right guard Matt Goncalves had an impressive collective debut next to each other, while running back Jonathan Taylor was fantastic in pass protection against some funky Dolphins blitz looks. Quarterback Daniel Jones, too, consistently got the Colts' protection in the right looks to pick up those blitzes.

"If we're all on the same page, then we're always going to be in good shape," offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr., who leads the Colts' pass protection planning, said. "Because we understand exactly where the pickups are happening, who we're responsible for and what answers we've got to have for other things."

So if the Broncos' rush and coverage work together, it'll be on the Colts' pass-catchers and pass protectors to work together, too. Week 1 was a good start.

But as Moore and Buckner said, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is how the Colts follow it up in Week 2.