Is it time to start taking Colts seriously after another impressive win?

When the 2025 season began there were not many expectations for the Indianapolis Colts, especially as their revolving door of quarterbacks was set to take another turn with Daniel Jones getting the starting job. But after their emphatic 40-6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday they are now 4-1, on top of the AFC South and looking like a potential contender in the AFC. 

Is it time to start taking them seriously as one?

The strength of victory is concerning

If you were looking for a potential red flag with this Colts team it's that they haven't exactly played a gauntlet of contenders through the first five weeks of the season. 

They've beaten up on a lot of bad teams so far, securing wins that, after Sunday's early slate of games, have a combined record of 5-14. 

The two best teams they have played so far have been the Denver Broncos (3-2) and Los Angeles Rams (3-2).

They beat Denver with the help of a leverage penalty at the end of the game that gave them a second attempt at a game-winning field goal (they made it).

They were extremely competitive against the Rams, and would have probably won it had it not been for two crushing mistakes from Adonai Mitchell that helped take 14 points off the board. 

Overall, they simply haven't really been tested much, and in the two games they were tested both games came down to what were basically coin flips. One went their way. One didn't. 

That's not meant to take anything away from what the Colts have done so far. Teams can only play the schedule they are given and go against the team that is lined up across from them. It's also probably encouraging that they are taking care of business against these bad teams and stomping on a lot of them. That is what good teams are supposed to do against sub-par competition. 

The thing is, they're really not going to get majorly tested anytime soon, either. 

Their next five games are against the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons. 

The Chargers and Steelers are the two best teams on that upcoming schedule, but neither is among the NFL's elites. Even if they go 3-2 over that stretch that would still put them at 7-3 going into a Week 11 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. 

That would still be a very good situation, and probably better than anybody could have expected when the season began.

The biggest X factor in all of this is whether or not Jones' performance through the first five weeks is for real or just a small sample size fluke. Through Sunday's game he has had a passer rating of 100.0 or better in four of his first five starts, has thrown six touchdowns to only two interceptions and averaging 8.9 yards per pass attempt. That is winning football. It is the type of football we never saw from Jones during his time with the New York Giants.

If he can maintain that, the Colts will have a chance to be a factor in the AFC playoffs. But after this many starts in the NFL there is a baseline expectation for what Jones is as a starter. He has to show that he is not going to regress back down closer to that level when the competition increases. He can't actually prove that until he gets those opportunities. Until then, he and the Colts have to just keep taking care of business the way they have.