RUN OFFENSE
The Colts faced one of the best front 7's in football and still were able to control the ball on the ground. The individual numbers weren't gaudy -- Jonathan Taylor led the Colts with 71 yards on 18 carries, a 3.9 yards-per-carry average -- but Indy finished with 156 yards on 40 carries. They controlled the line of scrimmage and got strong play from their two new offensive linemen, Tanor Bortolini and Matt Goncalves. Indy ran 70 plays to the Dolphins' 46. They also discovered another short-yardage weapon in the athletic Daniel Jones, who ran for two touchdowns.
GRADE: B
RUN DEFENSE
Yeah, yeah, the Dolphins averaged. 6.5 yards per carry, finishing with 78 yards on 12 carries, but they were largely meaningless yards. De'von Achane never got unleashed, and with the Colts scoring on all seven possessions, something that hasn't been done since 1977, Miami had to prioritize the pass game. How one-sided was it: Indy had 38:43 of possession time while Miami had it 21:17.
GRADE: B-
PASS OFFENSE
Give Daniel Jones his flowers. This was one of the best games he's played as a National Football League starting quarterback. He became just the fifth player in NFL history to have at least 250 passing yards in a season opener, joining John Elway, Troy Aikman, Otto Graham and Jim McMahon. He was the seventh quarterback in league history to score two rushing touchdowns in Week 1 since at least 1972. His 197 first-half passing yards was a career-high. He was everything Shane Steichen could have wanted, cool, calm, accurate. Can it continue? No telling, for for one day, Jones made Steichen look very smart for starting him. Strong games from Tyler Warren (7 catches, 76 yards) and Michael Pittman Jr. and a terrific catch by AD Mitchell. One game into the great Daniel Jones experiment, the results exceeding any rational expectation. Nice game, too, from the offensive line, which kept Jones clean most of the game.
GRADE: A
PASS DEFENSE
This is not your mother's, or older brother's secondary. Did anybody notice Jalen Waddle or Tyreek Hill, the two speedsters who generally scare the life out of cornerbacks and safeties? They combined for eight catches and 70 yards. Cam Bynum, the new acquisition at safety, had an interception, then did this weird crab-like celebration in the end zone. During the Gus Bradley days, high completion percentages were the norm. Sunday, Tua Tagovailoa had one of his worst-ever games, completing 14-of-23 passes for 114 yards, two interceptions and a puny 51.7 quarterback rating. No more sitting back in zones and getting picked apart under Anarumo.
GRADE: A
SPECIAL TEAMS
I love the new kickoff rules. The way it's set up now, there will be far more kick returns but without some of the risk of injury we've seen on the old-school kickoffs. And I thought the Colts kick coverage team did a strong job, allowing 24.1 return yards on seven kickoffs. I'd talk about the Colts punting, but, well, they didn't punt all game. It still blows my mind that nobody has scored on seven straight possessions in a game since 1977.
GRADE: A-
COACHING
If Steichen can rebuild Jones into a passable or even good starting quarterback, he'll be hailed as an all-time quarterback whisperer. We saw what he did with Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts; can he resurrect Jones, who's never quite equalled his performance in 2022. Steichen was aggressive all day, going for it, and making it, on three fourth-down tries. And don't forget Anarumo, who made us all forget Bradley in a hot minute. His defense played brilliantly. This didn't look like the bottom-feeder defense we've seen around here the last three years under Bradley.
GRADE: A
INTANGIBLES
This one was for Jim Irsay. If ever the Colts were going to snap their 11-game non-winning streak on opening day, it was going to be the day when the Colts celebrated Irsay and inducted him into the Ring of Honor. The Bossman would have loved the way his team played Sunday. Rest in peace.
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.