The Indianapolis Colts upset the Baltimore Ravens on the road with a 22-19 overtime victory during Week 3.
It was a huge early win for the Shane Steichen era. But Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer argued that the victory wasn't necessarily beginning of something new. Instead, he wrote that maybe the Colts are getting back to who they were prior to the disastrous 2022 season.
"What the Colts did wasn’t a whole different than what they did the first two weeks of the season, or in the years previous to last year’s mess," wrote Breer.
"So, again, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised."
Breer highlighted the Colts knocking off the Ravens in his Week 3 takeaways article. It's only been three weeks, but Indianapolis sits at 2-1 and in first place of the AFC South.
That was enough for Breer to claim that he was wrong about this year's Colts.
"We probably all should’ve taken them a little more seriously (I’ll raise my hand on this one) than we did before the season," Breer wrote. "After all, they did make the playoffs two times in the four years previous to last year’s meltdown, and never got worse than 7–9, while posting a 37–28 record over that stretch.
"Last year, of course, was a different story altogether."
The offensive line and defensive foundation that led the Colts to an 11-5 record and playoff berth in 2020 is back to form early this season. Players such as Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Shaquille Leonard and Zaire Franklin have returned to playing at a high level.
Colts doubters, which included Breer before the season, forgot how good those players once were and underestimated their abilities to bounce back.
The Colts, though, also have a collection of new significant contributors.
Quarterback is the obvious change. Gardner Minshew started in place of the injured Anthony Richardson, and led the Colts offense as a veteran quarterback should. He had 227 passing yards with a touchdown and zero turnovers.
Zack Moss has seized his opportunity in Indianapolis' backfield with back-to-back big performances in the team's two wins this year. Moss rushed for 122 yards on 30 carries in the upset win.
Michael Pittman Jr. led the Colts in receiving yards, but rookie receiver Josh Downs wasn't far behind him. Downs had a career-high 8 catches for 57 yards in Week 3.
And who can forget kicker Matt Gay, who had the game of his career on Sunday, going 5-for-5, including 4-for-4 from beyond 50 yards. He made a game-winning 53-yard field goal in overtime.
The mixture of old and new is working early this season in Indianapolis, and Breer seems to be convinced it can continue.
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