After another Colts rout, it’s time to acknowledge them for what they are: contenders

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INDIANAPOLIS — Braden Smith remembers how things used to be and the scars those failures have left behind. So often recently, the Indianapolis Colts would start slow and spend the whole season trying to claw their way back into the playoff picture. Most of the time, those campaigns ended in agony, with Indianapolis now four years removed from its last playoff berth.

But this season feels different, Smith said Sunday following Indianapolis’ 40-6 shellacking of the Las Vegas Raiders. More hopeful. More promising. More serious. As the Colts’ starting right tackle stood in a joyous locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium and looked around, he took a deep breath to compose himself before explaining why.

Smith pointed to his team’s humility and lack of ego. Then, his tone shifted a bit.

“We’re tired of just being mediocre,” Smith said. “Everyone’s just putting in the work. It’s the work that it takes every day to kind of push past that.

“To be a contender.”

Excuse me, a what?

If someone had called the Colts a contender before the start of the 2025 season, they likely would’ve been laughed at. That’s a word that hasn’t been synonymous with this franchise since the days of quarterback Peyton Manning and, for a brief stretch, Andrew Luck. But after a 4-1 start, with Daniel Jones playing at a near-MVP level, running back Jonathan Taylor looking like an early favorite to win NFL Offensive Player of the Year and the new-look defense generating eight turnovers in five weeks, this no longer feels like an anomaly. It feels like the standard.

And being a contender feels like a reality.

According to The Athletic’s Austin Mock’s NFL Projection Model, following Sunday’s beatdown of the Raiders, the Colts now have a 90 percent chance of making the playoffs, a 14 percent chance to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC and an 8 percent chance to win the Super Bowl. The only AFC team with better odds in those three categories? The Buffalo Bills, led by some guy named Josh Allen.

Of course, there’s still a lot of season left, and Smith couched his “contender” talk by noting that it’s only Week 5. But to his point, how else should this year’s team be described? Save for kicker Spencer Shrader sustaining a knee injury, which Colts coach Shane Steichen said after the game, “doesn’t look good,” there were hardly any lowlights for Indianapolis on Sunday.

The Colts were simply dominant — again.

The Dolphins were no match for them in the season opener. The Titans had nothing for the Colts in Week 3. On Sunday, it was the Raiders’ turn to look outclassed. Those lowly teams have a combined record of 3-12, so now isn’t exactly the time to start planning the parade route through downtown Indianapolis. But a roadmap to the postseason and the team’s first AFC South title since 2014? That seems as real as ever.

Last year, all eight of the Colts’ victories were by one possession. On Sunday, Indianapolis notched its third victory this season by at least 20 points. The Raiders’ six points marked the second time this year Indianapolis kept its opponent to single digits.

Linebacker Zaire Franklin could not care less about the Colts’ strength of schedule. From his perspective, strength is subjective — until someone else feels it.

“That’s what shows up on film,” said Franklin, who tallied one of Indianapolis’ four sacks Sunday. “I think regardless of the level of competition that we play, I think we play to a certain standard. And it’s either you’re gonna get to that standard, or you’re gonna get ran off the field.”

#Colts Week 5 recap! pic.twitter.com/eS9bktiAFQ

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) October 5, 2025

Segun Olubi set the tone early.

With the Colts already leading 7-3 in the second quarter, the linebacker knifed through the Raiders’ protection unit and blocked a punt by Las Vegas’ AJ Cole. Four plays later, Taylor scored on a 3-yard touchdown run that was the start of an offensive avalanche. After going three-and-out to start the game, Indianapolis scored a touchdown on its next six possessions, which is tied for the team’s longest streak since at least 1993, according to Colts PR.

Taylor was held to a season-low 66 yards on 17 carries, but still tallied three rushing touchdowns. Entering this season, Taylor had just two career games with at least three total touchdowns. Through just five weeks this season, he already matched that total.

Not to be overlooked, Jones was nearly flawless on Sunday, completing 20 of his 29 passes for 212 yards and two TDs, both in the second quarter. One play after Steichen dialed up a trick play for tYler Warren, in which the rookie tight end was the passer but wisely threw the ball away when he saw the Raiders snuffed it out, the coach went back to his star — yes, star — quarterback. Jones delivered with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Warren that marked the first receiving TD of his career.

“I didn’t see Tyler’s pass,” Jones said through a grin when asked to grade Warren’s QB skills. “Looked like they covered it up pretty good, but I like the play.”

The Colts’ defense had its highlights as well, as four different players recorded a sack. Defensive end Laiatu Latu also picked off Raiders quarterback Geno Smith in the second quarter, marking Latu’s second interception of the season. Cornerback Mekhi Blackmon intercepted Smith in the third quarter, as the Las Vegas passer finished the game with his second-worst passer rating of the season (63.2).

But perhaps the best argument for why these aren’t the same old Colts is how the team handled wide receiver AD Mitchell. Following last week’s blunders against the Rams, in which Mitchell’s mistakes cost the team two touchdowns, he was effectively benched until garbage time in the fourth quarter. It didn’t matter that starting receiver Alec Pierce missed his second straight game due to a concussion. Steichen wanted to send a message.

“I told you guys AD has got to earn it,” the coach said afterward.

Steichen had been noncommittal about Mitchell’s role all week and opted instead to play Ashton Dulin, a core special teamer, over the 2024 second-round pick. Dulin, who went undrafted in 2019, responded by notching two catches for a team-high 55 yards, in addition to doing his usual jobs as a gunner and return man.

“He’s as gritty as they come,” Steichen said. “He’s as tough as they come.”

That’s the mindset Steichen wants his whole team to embody in a conference that, outside of the Bills, feels wide open. The Ravens, with an injured Lamar Jackson, are 1-4. Patrick Mahomes and the reigning AFC champion Chiefs look more vulnerable than in years past and are just 2-2 entering Monday night’s game against the Jaguars. And Justin Herbert and the Chargers, who started 3-0 with a resounding victory over the Chiefs in their season opener, are now 3-2 after back-to-back losses to the Giants and Commanders.

Franklin, who fully acknowledged that it’s still early in the season, doesn’t see why the Colts can’t be in the “contender” conversation at the end. That’s what they’re building toward and, for the first time in years, they may finally have the right tools.

“Respectfully, I feel like we gave (the Rams) too much credit,” Franklin said, reflecting on how Indy responded after its first loss of the year. “I think after we played L.A., we realized we’re that team.

“We’re the team that’s a test for everybody else.”

(Photo: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)

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