INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Colts' day started in the most ignominious and bizarre fashion imaginable. Two players, backup quarterback Anthony Richardson and starting cornerback Charvarius Ward, both were injured during PRE-GAME WARMUPS.
Seriously.
Ward, far and away the Colts best cornerback, ran into tight end Drew Ogletree during drills and suffered a concussion.
Richardson, the star-crossed backup quarterback, was hit in the eye while doing pre-game band work. When I first saw "band work," I thought someone had dropped a tuba on his foot. Anyway, I'm making some light of it, but the band somehow snapped, hit Richardson in the eye and left him with a fractured orbital bone. No telling how long he'll be out.
Poor guy can't catch a break. He may be cursed. I mean, literally...cursed.
"That was very interesting, to say the least," head coach Shane Steichen said after the Colts' 31-27 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. "We had to kind of rally the troops there in the locker room and get our focus back. And I thought our guys did that the right way."
Said defensive end Kwity Paye: "It was sad. It was very sad. But we had to focus back up and we did, we went out there and did our job. I didn't see either one happen, but we all prayed for those two guys. It's unfortunate."
After the game, though, the Colts were in a much more celebratory mood. This was the kind of game the Colts of recent vintage used to lose, a clunky performance, outstanding on offense, dreadful on defense. Well, dreadful on defense until it ultimately mattered, the Colts shutting down a potential go-ahead drive with Indy holding tightly to a 31-27 lead in the final seconds. That's when they bowed up, the Cardinals having reached the 9-yard line. Paye tackled Jacoby Brissett for no gain on third down, then on fourth and ballgame, reserve cornerback Chris Lammons had solid coverage on tight end Trent McBride, who complained vehemently that he was impeded.
No call.
And that was it.
This game went back and forth and back and forth, the Colts offense humming and the defense, which really missed Ward and Kenny Moore II, struggling to contain Brissett and the Cardinals' passing game, even after they lost Marvin Harrison Jr. to a concussion. Brissett, who filled in for injured Kyler Murray, finished 27-of-44 for 320 yards, two touchdowns, an interception by Mekhi Blackmon and an 89.2 quarterback rating.
In the process, the Colts went from a pleasant early-season story to a team that has real potential to win the AFC South and do some damage in the playoffs. They came into this game first in the league in points scored and first in the league in fewest points allowed. That's a recipe for long-term success. Red zone? The Colts have scored touchdowns on their last 10 trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
And understand, the Cardinals, even without Murray, are a team that very easily could have come to Indy at 4-1. They lost three straight games on walk-off field goals, including an unforgivable loss last week to Tennessee when Emari Demercado pulled an AD Mitchell and dropped the football before he crossed the goal line for a touchdown.
The Colts didn't play their A game defensively-- the loss of Ward didn't help an already thin secondary, the Colts surrendering 9-of-14 third-down conversions -- but they found a way to win, and that's all that matters
Once again, Daniel Jones was solid and occasionally more than solid -- really good? -- completing 22-of-30 passes for 212 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 101.0 quarterback rating. It's like we've been saying for some time now, give the Colts decent quarterbacking -- and Jones has been a LOT better than decent -- and the roster is good enough to win a division. Let's just say, Mr. Jones, a free agent at season's end, is poised to make a lot of money, presumably from the Colts.
Who could have imagined that Jones, a New York castoff like Saquon Barkley, would be getting mention for MVP?
Jonathan Taylor appears to be on a mission this season, rushing 21 times for 123 yards, a 5.9 yards-per-carry average, and one touchdown on a play beautifully blocked by receiver Michael Pittman.
Tyler Warren, well, who didn't know this guy would turn into a game-changing tight end -- except maybe the Chicago Bears, who drafted Michigan tight end Colston Loveland ahead of Warren? The Penn State product has been everything the Colts could have wished for, and more. Blocking, receiving, running after the catch; he's been a monster. He had six catches Sunday on nine targets for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Josh Downs has also emerged these past two weeks, finishing with six catches for 42 yards.
These are the kinds of games really good teams win. The Colts weren't totally on top of their game -- the personnel losses in the secondary hurt badly -- but when it came to winning time, when they needed a scoring drive to take the lead and needed a stop on the Cards' final drive, they came through.
On a day that started with two shocking pre-game warmup injuries, the Colts recovered, showed their mettle and walked away with a hard-earned victory. Oh, and Jacksonville lost. So the Colts, now 5-1 and owners of the league's best record, have the inside track to the AFC South title, even though it's quite early in the season. The Colts haven't won the AFC South since 2014. It's time. It's definitely time.
Bob Kravitz is an award-winning columnist who has been in the sports journalism business for 43 years. He's worked at Sports Illustrated, the Indianapolis Star, The Athletic and other publications, and is now an Indiana-based publisher at Roundtable Sports. You can follow him on X @bkravitz.