By Tiffany Williams –
The Indianapolis Colts didn’t just win — they detonated the Las Vegas Raiders 40-6 inside Lucas Oil Stadium, dropping a performance so complete it looked like two teams from different leagues. It was the Colts’ biggest beatdown since 2013, and it felt like the coming-out party of a team that suddenly looks like a real AFC threat.
Six straight touchdown drives. Perfect in the red zone. Eight-for-ten on third down. For a franchise still trying to shake off years of inconsistency, this was the kind of afternoon that rewrites expectations. The Raiders, meanwhile, looked like they accidentally wandered into a playoff scrimmage and never recovered.
Daniel Jones delivered his cleanest game yet in Colts blue — efficient, smart, surgical. He threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns while completing 20 of 29 passes, becoming the first Colts quarterback since Peyton Manning in 2010 to pass for 200 yards in each of the first five games of a season. Jonathan Taylor was his usual wrecking-ball self, carving up Las Vegas for 66 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 20 yards and added a two-point conversion for good measure. His 20 total points were the most by any Colt since he bulldozed Buffalo in 2021.
This was the Jonathan Taylor the league fears — decisive, punishing, impossible to corral once he gets a head of steam. He joined Edgerrin James as the only Colt in history to log multiple three-touchdown rushing games in a single season. He’s now passed Marvin Harrison for the second-most total touchdowns by a Colt through six seasons.
Michael Pittman Jr. chipped in with another steady game — five catches, 39 yards, and a touchdown — enough to move him into the franchise’s top five in career receptions. Tight end Tyler Warren found the end zone for the first time in his career, while Ameer Abdullah and Ashton Dulin each made their mark. Dulin, the Colts’ special teams ace, flashed as a legitimate offensive weapon, leading the team in receiving yards and earning postgame praise from his head coach.
“He’s as gritty as they come,” Shane Steichen said afterward. “He does whatever’s asked. He’s a tremendous worker.”
Steichen, whose offense looked untouchable for most of the game, couldn’t have scripted it better. “Complementary football — that’s what it was,” he said. “All three phases feeding off each other. Six drives, six touchdowns. Everyone got involved.”
Even when kicker Spencer Shrader went down, Steichen didn’t blink. “It doesn’t look good,” he admitted, “but I trusted the offense to finish drives. There were a lot of moving parts with the kicking operation, but I’ve got faith in Rigo.”
The Colts’ defense matched the offense’s firepower. They swarmed, batted passes, and made life miserable for Aidan O’Connell. Rookie phenom Laiatu Latu snagged his second interception of the season — the first Colts lineman to do that since 1971. Zaire Franklin racked up seven tackles and a sack, while Nick Cross and Mekhi Blackmon each added big plays. Seven different Colts recorded passes defensed — a statement of speed and discipline that kept the Raiders chasing air.
Las Vegas managed 296 yards of total offense, most of it between the 20s. Their lone highlight came from rookie back Ashton Jeanty, who piled up 109 total yards — his second straight 100-yard outing — and continues to look like a gem in an otherwise sputtering offense. Maxx Crosby, playing his 100th NFL game, did his usual damage with a tackle for loss and a deflection, pushing his career totals into historic territory. But that was about it for the Raiders’ good news.
Head coach Pete Carroll looked exhausted afterward, his trademark optimism cracking under the weight of another blowout. “It was really disappointing,” he said. “Things happened early, and the game got away because we couldn’t score enough. Big plays, turnovers, blocked kicks — we just couldn’t get out of our own way.”
Carroll defended his young roster but didn’t sugarcoat the situation. “We believe we’re going to be better than this,” he said. “But you have to take it to the game, and we haven’t done that enough lately.”
The Raiders have now dropped consecutive games by wide margins, and the cracks are starting to show. They’ve been respectable on third down and stout against the run statistically, but none of that mattered in Indianapolis.
The Colts, on the other hand, looked like a team that’s found its rhythm. Physical up front, balanced on offense, and opportunistic on defense — the kind of football that wins in January.
Sunday’s blowout wasn’t just a win. It was a warning shot to the rest of the AFC: the Colts aren’t rebuilding anymore — they’re arriving.
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