Time is a flat circle. The Colts have the NFL’s best record. The AFC is loaded with future Hall of Fame quarterbacks. The Patriots lead the AFC East. Sean Payton is doing Sean Payton things. Plus, the reigning Super Bowl champions are from Pennsylvania.
Does it remind anyone else of the year 2009? That’s the last time the Colts had the best outright record in the NFL like they do now. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, among others, have been ruling the AFC for years like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger did in the late 2000s.
New England has a star quarterback again. The aforementioned Payton is once again coaching a Super Bowl contender. The Philadelphia Eagles are defending their Super Bowl crown like the Pittsburgh Steelers were 16 years ago.
The 2009 season was a good one. Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu were on the cover of Madden, and I was playing that game more than studying. Fast-forward to 2025 and the Colts are putting up video-game-like numbers for the first time since the Manning era (sorry, Andrew Luck) and arguably the best story in the league.
In about two months, the Colts have gone from a team with a general manager on the hot seat and hopes centered around a potential bust first-round quarterback (Anthony Richardson) to sitting atop the NFL standings thanks to an unlikely hero (and bust first-rounder), Indiana (Daniel) Jones.
Could this year be anything like 2009?
Hopefully for the Colts, this season ends better than a surprise onside kick and pick six. Record aside, could these 2025 Colts actually be anything like the 2009 team?
Yes, there are some parallels. Ignore the names. Manning and Reggie Wayne aren’t walking through the door. Just focus on the facts.
The 2009 and 2025 Colts had the league’s most efficient offenses at this point in the year. Both led the NFL in wins, offensive EPA, points per drive, punts and sacks allowed. They had the most efficient quarterback play, too.
Colts through Week 7
|
Best record in NFL? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Best offensive EPA in NFL? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Most points per drive in NFL? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
QB leader in EPA per dropback? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Fewest punts in NFL? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Fewest sacks allowed in NFL? |
Yes |
Yes |
The 2025 Colts may not have a player named after a day of the week like (Jeff) Saturday, but they do have some presidential namesakes. Grover (Stewart), (Trey) Washington, (Jonathan) Taylor, (Alec) Pierce, (Buddy and Eric) Johnson, and (Jack) Wilson.
All jokes aside, how about the rest of the roster? In general, we’re looking at two elite offenses (one had pedigree) and an average defense with some differences.
I’ve broken the rosters down my position-by-position look below (green means great and yellow is average).
2009 vs. 2025 Colts position-by-position breakdown
Manning may have had more talent in his pinky than Daniel Jones has in his entire body, but the numbers don’t lie this year, Jones has been “elite.” (I’ll venture a guess that he’s calling fewer audibles at the line of scrimmage than Manning, though.)
The 2009 Colts had no run game. Joseph Addai was not good, and Donald Brown didn’t live up to first-round pick hype. Meanwhile, Jonathan Taylor might currently be the league’s best pure runner.
Both had stud tight ends (Dallas Clark, Tyler Warren) and a mediocre offensive line with one big name (Saturday, Quenton Nelson).
The Colts’ 2009 defensive front gets the edge (I mean, they had two Hall of Fame-caliber edge rushers), but it’s worth noting that their run defense was terrible. There was nothing else special about their secondary as Bob Sanders missed pretty much the entire season.
The Colts’ 2025 defense has been average at best, but that’s not bad at all considering what Lou Anarumo is working with (more on that in a minute).
There is one big difference between these two teams. They will not be on a collision course with the New Orleans Saints. And, oh, yeah, the 2009 Colts had Pat McAfee. The 2025 Colts do not.
Imagn Images
What makes this year’s Colts so special?
Usually, I would dismiss these Colts because they have zero pedigree and their quarterback is a castoff in Jones.
But the offensive numbers that they’re putting up aren’t just Manning good — they’re best-this-century good.
In a year where the Super Bowl race looks wide open, they — at least for now — have to be taken seriously.
NFL Week 8 Power Rankings: Colts made me eat my words (with hot sauce) as they soar to No. 1
Pete Prisco
Best offense ever?
By some measures, this is incredibly the most efficient offense in decades. The Colts are averaging the most points per drive (3.46) by any team through Week 7 since the 2007 Patriots (3.49).
The only teams ahead of them since 2000 is the 2000 Rams (3.60). So, Jones is leading an offense that stacks up with the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams (with Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce) and the 2007 Patriots, who went 16-0 with record-breaking performances by the aforementioned Brady and Randy Moss.
Nobody is saying that this Colts team is anywhere as good as those offenses, but just to be mentioned in the same breath is incredible.
Indiana Jones and the Lombardi of destiny
Indiana Jones is the hottest nickname in the NFL right now and Daniel Jones has definitely earned it with the adventure he’s taking us on. He leads all quarterbacks in EPA per dropback this year and has gone from bottom five to top five in yards per pass attempt since last season. This is the best year-over-year improvement in quarterback record (Jones was 2-8 last year and is 6-1 this year) since Craig Morton from 1976-77, per CBS Sports research wizard Ryan Satsky. Morton led the Broncos to the Super Bowl in 1977 after going 2-10 with the GIANTS in 1976. Sound familiar? Clearly anything is possible for Jones.
Taylor is the NFL’s best pure rusher
The Colts offense is stabilized by the best pure runner in the league. Taylor leads the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns this year (he also did that in 2021) and ranks top five all time in rushing yards per game. Only four players in the last half century have led the NFL in both categories multiple times. Earl Campbell, Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson and Derrick Henry. A Mount Rushmore of sorts.
Colts playing chess with rookie tight end
There’s been plenty of creativity on the Colts offense from RPOs to the usage of Warren. He joins Harold Fannin and Theo Johnson among three players with 30 snaps or more in the backfield, at tight end, in the slot and lined up wide, according to CBS Sports research.
Warren leads all tight ends in receiving yards this year and if he scores Sunday will join Mike Ditka as the only rookie tight ends ever with a touchdown in five straight games.
They have a ‘mad scientist’
The Colts defense is also hanging in there with the “mad scientist” in Anarumo, the new defensive coordinator.
Anarumo has blitzed a defensive back 43 times this year, a top five rate in the league. He’s also rushed three or fewer players the second-most times in the league (19).
I love that Anarumo isn’t afraid to throw the kitchen sink at a defense, even if it means using wide receiver Ashton Dulin as a pass rusher.
Are they actually contenders?
The Colts had 100-1 odds to win the Super Bowl before the season, so it makes sense that most would be slow to call them legit contenders. After all, the only bigger longshot to win the Super Bowl was the 1999 Rams (150-1). The Colts are currently up to 12-1 on Fanduel behind the Chiefs, Lions, Bills, Packers and Eagles. That’s progress.
The one thing that we haven’t really seen yet is true statement win. The Colts have played the NFL’s third-easiest schedule so far this season, according to SportsLine. They beat the Dolphins, Titans, Raiders and Cardinals, who all stink. They beat the Broncos on a lucky penalty at the end of the game and are coming off a semi-statement win against the injury-plagued and slumping Chargers.
All eyes will be on the Colts as the year progresses. They have tough road games against the Steelers, Chiefs and Seahawks.
The realistic ceiling is probably something similar to what Jones did in 2022 with another elite running back and creative play-caller. He led the Giants to a road playoff win in Minnesota with a historic performance. He could win another playoff game this year.
But the whole thing? As the 2009 Billboard No. 1 song by The Black Eyed Peas suggests, “I Gotta Feeling.”
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