BERLIN – We're back with another edition of The Colts Show Mailbag, where I'll answer listener, viewer and reader questions here on Colts.com every week (and, yes, I'm filing this from a coffee shop in Berlin).
You can submit your questions to me a few ways: At Colts.com/Mailbag, on social media (like X and Instagram) and in the YouTube comments for the podcast. Be sure to get your questions in, since I'll get to one on next Tuesday's podcast edition of The Colts Show.
For this week's podcast question, I answered one from Marc Beaton – a Colts fan from Newcastle, England – about how the Colts are preparing for this week's trip overseas to play the Atlanta Falcons in Berlin. The podcast this week also features a conversation with safety Cam Bynum, which you can get on:
A little peek behind the curtain: We taped with Cam last week, and then published the episode Tuesday morning...and shortly after, the Colts traded for Sauce Gardner. That's why we didn't discuss the trade on this week's pod, but it was nonetheless a really enjoyable conversation with Cam I think you'll enjoy.
Let's dive into the rest of this week's batch of questions:
Thomas Heubeck (Germany): How are you and the organization preparing for the Berlin Game, and what do you expect of the stadium and the crowd? Thank you and keep it up! For The Shoe and For The Boss!
JJ Stankevitz: I talked a bit about Thomas' first question here on the podcast – the Colts, like most NFL teams in the Eastern or Central time zones, are doing as much prep as possible at their team facility before leaving for Europe.
"We'll try to create a normal week as we can, as much as possible," head coach Shane Steichen said. "Obviously, we're going to be traveling earlier this week than we would normal away games, but we've got to attack it the same way, one day at a time, and get back to work. Our Wednesday prep will be the same, our Thursday prep will be the same and we'll get out there on Friday and attack it like we do any normal week."
I did want to respond to the second part of Thomas' question here, though. I don't think I can overstate how excited I am to see Colts Nation descend upon Berlin – I've heard from several members of the Colts' European fan club, Blue Crew Europe, who will be coming to our fan zone at Das Center and then the game at Olympic Stadium. I've also heard from several stateside Colts fans who are making the trip – and I cannot wait to see all of you in Berlin. Come say hi – I'll be hosting at Das Center Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and we'll have special appearances on stage by Edgerrin James, Dallas Clark, Bill Brooks, Joe Reitz, Blue, Colts Cheerleaders and some current players.
As for gameday, this game being at Olympic Stadium is sure to be special. Germany showed out for our last game there – and that was in a stadium about half the size of Olympic Stadium in Frankfurt. I can't wait to get to Olympic Stadium on Sunday to experience this one.
Juan Castro (Fulshear, Texas): Given that the franchise hasn't won a division title in a decade and missed the playoffs the past few years, how do they ensure that this season's strong start doesn't slip away late in the year (especially after the stumble in Pittsburgh)? What internal benchmarks (beyond just wins/losses) are they using to measure whether this team is truly playoff-ready and capable of going deeper? And how will Shane and Chris communicate that to the players so the mindset shifts from 'good season so far' to 'elite finish'?" Thank you!!
JJ Stankevitz: Good question here from Juan. I do think sometimes you'll see teams have good records by flimsy foundations through the first half of a season.
Let's start here as to why the Colts have a strong foundation: They have a +109 point differential entering Week 10, highest in the NFL and one that puts them in good company recently.
In the last 25 years, there have been 39 teams to have a +100 or better point differential through their first nine games; only one of them – the 2012 Chicago Bears – did not make the playoffs (and that Bears team went 10-6, which would've got them into the playoffs in the current seven-team format).
Douglas Podgorny (Lowell, Ind.): Ballard doesn't buy at the deadline much, and Gardner move is extremely expensive! It should help mitigate the impact of current injuries on our secondary. I'm in with the win now philosophy definitely! However, with 16 players set for new contracts and at least six high performers including Jones, Pierce, Cross, Smith and Paye all due to be paid, not to mention 2 first rounders it appears this closes the Super Bowl window shot to this year! This trade immediately adds 40m to payroll. Do you see a way Colts will be able to re-sign at least Jones, Pierce, Paye and Cross going forward?
JJ Stankevitz: Good question here from Juan. I do think sometimes you'll see teams have good records by flimsy foundations through the first half of a season.
Let's start here as to why the Colts have a strong foundation: They have a +109 point differential entering Week 10, highest in the NFL and one that puts them in good company recently.
In the last 25 years, there have been 39 teams to have a +100 or better point differential through their first nine games; only one of them – the 2012 Chicago Bears – did not make the playoffs (and that Bears team went 10-6, which would've got them into the playoffs in the current seven-team format). I'm a big believer that beating opponents by multiple touchdowns is just as much a sign of a good team as beating top contenders, and the Colts this year have won four games by enough points to pull their starters in the fourth quarter.
There are also plenty of advanced stats that back up how well the Colts are playing. They're No. 2 in DVOA, No. 1 in EPA per play, No. 1 in success rate and No. 1 in scoring drive percentage; don't let the Steelers game fool you, this offense has a strong foundation.
The Colts' defense is fourth with 13 takeaways, just brought in Sauce Gardner and should get Charvarius Ward Sr. back at some point (the earliest he can come off injured reserve is Week 12). That's a unit that very well could be ascending as the second half of the season presses on.
JJ Stankevitz: Fair questions here, since acquiring Gardner does happen in a vacuum. To get him, the Colts did have to commit cash and cap space in the long term, while trading two first-round picks and a wide receiver on Year 2 of 4 in his rookie contract.
I guess I land in the camp of it being too early to worry about the team-building implications of this move for the offseason. General manager Chris Ballard certainly considered that in pulling the trigger on arguably the biggest and most aggressive trade in franchise history (it's close to the Fredd Young and Eric Dickerson trades from the 1980s).
But the flip side here is the Colts acquired an All-Pro cornerback in his mid-20s, and because he signed an extension in July, how the Colts can budget for him in the future is not in question. And I don't think I can emphasize the first part of that sentence enough – Gardner is young and has barely reached his prime, and finding cornerbacks of both his age and caliber is nearly impossible. Sure, it wasn't cheap to get Gardner to Indy, but the Colts now have a young, foundational piece of their defense in place; that's a long-term shot very much worth taking.
And that's not even saying anything about how Gardner can help the Colts in 2025, especially when Ward is able to come off injured reserve. A 7-2 start already set high expectations for the Colts, and acquiring Gardner in that blockbuster trade ensures the Colts will maintain those high expectations throughout the 2025 season.
