In his Colts debut on Sunday, cornerback Xavien Howard proved instrumental in the team's 33-8 victory over the Miami Dolphins in not just his play on the field, but because of the insight he could provide.
In playing for the Dolphins from 2016 to 2023, Howard had plenty of prior experience going up against Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in practice. He knew how to disrupt Tagovailoa's rhythm and how to best cover the receivers, and made sure to let his new teammates in on his tactics prior to the season opener.
Howard's perspective, combined with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo's strategies and the skill of the entire Colts defense, effectively locked down the Dolphins' offense and sent Tagovailoa into panic mode more than once on Sunday. As a team, the Colts recorded three sacks and two interceptions and didn't allow the Dolphins to score until six minutes remained in the game.
"Lou's a hell of a defensive coordinator," Howard said Monday. "He schemed some stuff up to get the guys in position to make some plays."
Tagovailoa finished the game 14-of-23 for 114 yards with a 51.7 passer rating, his lowest passer rating in a full game since 2021. The last time Tagovailoa threw for less than 114 yards was in 2022, when he was 8-of-14 for 110 yards against Anarumo's Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4 (he left the game with a concussion in the middle of the second quarter).
"We knew he gets the ball out pretty quick," Howard said of Tagovailoa. "And once we take away his first read, I feel like it's panic mode after that. And it showed yesterday. We took away his first read, and he was trying to get rid of the ball real quick."
Hill and Waddle combined for a total of eight receptions for 70 yards; they were only targeted a combined total of 11 times, as the Colts took away .
"We knew it was a lot of...quick throws in the middle," Howard said. "So I told them clog the middle and make sure they throw the ball outside. And we clogged the middle and made – I think we got two interceptions by clogging the middle."
Howard, starting opposite Charvarius Ward Sr., played 31 of the Colts' 47 defensive snaps in his first appearance in a Colts uniform. While he didn't record any tackles, he quickly showed his value with strong coverage and the instincts to jump on the football after Kenny Moore II stripped it from Tagovailoa's hands.
It was clear from the moment Howard joined the Colts in August he would quickly become a key part of the Colts' defense. After the Colts' cornerback room sustained multiple injuries during training camp, they knew they needed to bring in an experienced player to fill in the gaps, and that's just what Howard has done.
Now, he'll need to continue to do so as the Colts once again are dealing with blows to their secondary; head coach Shane Steichen announced on Monday Ward entered concussion protocol and Jaylon Jones injured his hamstring, the same one he injured in training camp that sidelined the young cornerback for much of the preseason.
