Man, Jim Irsay would have loved this.
He would have loved the way the Colts' newly-installed Lou Anarumo defense shut down the explosive Miami Dolphins Sunday. He would have loved the way his latest quarterback, Daniel Jones, reprised his 2022 performance and led Indy to a 33-8 victory, the Colts’ first opening-game victory since 2013. He would have loved the way Tyler Warren, the first-round draft pick, recalled the salad days of Dallas Clark and served notice that he's going to become a Pro Bowl talent at some point, maybe as soon as this year.
I have no doubt Irsay watched this game. After all, the Colts opened the window and roof so Irsay and Forrest Lucas, the man for whom the stadium was named, could watch from their seats on the astral plane.
If you want to understand just how lopsided this game was, at one point, the Colts had run 43 plays while the Dolphins had gained just 43 yards of offense. The Colts scored on their first five possessions. Whatever Shane Steichen called, whatever Anarumo schemed, it worked and it worked beautifully. The Dolphins, ranked fourth in the league on defense last year, never had a chance against the Indy attack, which rolled up 418 yards, including 272 through the air. The defense forced three turnovers, a good sign after a season in which they were -4 in turnover ratio.
Yeah, Jim would have loved this. Opening day was always extremely important to him, and it drove him crazy that the Colts were 0-10-1 in their last 11 openers, having last won over the Raiders in 2013. Think he’d be excited about Jones’ performance, or Warren's (this year’s Brock Bowers), or the defense, which completely shut down Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
This one meant something. This one meant more, coming on the day Irsay was celebrated with a spot in the Ring of Honor. After the game, Steichen gave game balls to the three Irsay sisters, co-owners of the franchise.
“I think it means everything,” Shane Steichen said of his team’s victory on Irsay’s big day. “And what i mean by that is we’re honoring a man who did so much for this community and this organization. Obviously he’s not with us physically, but he’s definitely with us spiritually everywhere we go. So to win like we did today with him watching down on us was awesome.”
It wasn’t just about Irsay’s spiritual presence. On this day, the Colts invited back several Ring of Honor players and executives, including Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James, and what they watched looked like something from the glory days of the 2000’s. The Colts dominated, from the start to the finish.
A year ago, the Colts were 29th in the league defensively. Sunday, they were the ‘85 Bears. Think Anarumo won’t make a huge difference? The Colts had three sacks, two of them coming on blitzes from Kenny Moore and Nick Cross. Blitzes used to be a Halley’s Comet sort of occurence, but Anarumo, who’s known for his exotic looks, had Tagovailoa completely flummoxed. And don’t forget Laiatu Latu’s first-ever NFL interception when he dropped into coverage and made a play. How often did we see that the last three years under Gus Bradley?
“I mean, there’s a new sheriff in town,” Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward said boldly. “There’s new big dogs. He (Anarumo) came in and changed the scheme and we got some new players, me and Cam (Bynum) and some other guys. We had a great game. We’ve got to expect this all season.”
We’ll know more as the season wears on — the Colts have the Broncos at home next Sunday — but this was a massively impressive start.
We also got to see the first of what we expect will be many celebrations from Bynum, who has made a name for himself not only with his Pro Bowl-caliber play but with his creative flourishes after turnovers. After an early interception, Bynum ran to the end zone, fell on his back and started moving around like a sand crab on a beach.
Or something.
What, I asked, was that?
“I honestly don’t know,” said Bynum, one of the team’s big personalities. “I just felt like doing the worm off my back sideways, like it was one of those random things where it doesn’t even have a name. It’s just like most things you do as a kid, just playing around. It was either a crab or a flopping fish.”
It was, um, interesting and kind of fun and weird, but the Colts will be thoroughly delighted to see more of the celebrations Bynum has planned for himself and his teammates.
This whole afternoon was a giant celebration
And for Jones, the Colts eighth opening-day starter in the last nine years, it was a reminder of what he was back when he was at the top of his game in 2022 for the New York Giants. He finished 22-of-29 for 272 yards, one passing touchdown and two rushing scores. Just don’t ask him a question like the one that was posed Sunday late afternoon: After all you’ve been through, did this feel like some kind of validation for you?
He won’t go there.
“Yeah, it felt good to get a win for sure,” he said. “We played well. The thing I’ve learned over the years is, you know, it’s a long season and you’ve got to play at a high level the whole time. But yeah, a good start.”
Won for Jim.
It was a perfect way to get a season underway.
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.