The Indianapolis Colts are the most fascinating team of the 21st century

Jarrett Bailey

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The Indianapolis Colts are the most fascinating team of the 21st century image

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

It's hard to even come with an analogy for how improbable and incredible the 2025 Indianapolis Colts season has been. The Colts having the best record in the NFL through seven weeks would be like if you woke up one morning and your friend Dalton who lives with his parents won the Nobel Prize.

Precisely zero people saw this coming. Even if you went on a limb and predicted that the Colts would shock everyone and win the AFC South, the numbers they are putting up right now aren't just great, they are historic.

The Colts offense is currently one of the best in NFL history

The Colts currently lead the NFL with an offensive DVOA at 33.6 percent. Not only does that lead the league, but it is the fifth-highest offensive DVOA of all time. The complete top five is as follows:

  1. 2010 New England Patriots
  2. 1982 San Diego Chargers
  3. 2007 New England Patriots
  4. 2024 Baltimore Ravens
  5. 2025 Indianapolis Colts

If history is any indicator, the Colts will be in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC all season and will have a deep run in January. 

Additionally, they are the 13th ranked team in history through seven games, per Aaron Schatz.

Not only are the Colts tremendous from a DVOA perspective, but they are one of the best teams ever  in terms of points per drive. As Anthony Dabbundo points out, the Colts are statistically the most efficient offense by points per drive of the 21st century. The Colts are averaging 3.46 points per drive. Second place is the aforementioned 2007 Patriots, who averaged 3.19 points per drive.

From an efficiency standpoint, the Colts are a God forsaken wagon thrown at their opponent as if they were being punished by law. They are first in EPA per play, first in points per game And what makes them even more incredible than the aforementioned teams of which they are being mentioned in the same breath is the quarterback they are doing this with.

The resurrection of Daniel Jones

If you're like me, you think of the worst movie in the Halloween  franchise when you hear the word "resurrection." Busta Rhymes yelling "trick or treat motherf***er" before doing quasi-kung-fu on Michael Myers? Hard pass. If you're a Colts fan, though, there isn't a better word to describe the season that Daniel Jones is having.

It was a shock to say the least when the Colts named Jones their starter over Anthony Richardson before the season-opener against the Miami Dolphins. Many counted the Colts out right away, as we have seen what Jones had looked like before. This was the same guy exiled from the New York Giants after averaging four wins per season during his tenure. However, Jones and the Colts wasted no time in making believers out of doubters.

They defeated the Miami Dolphins 33-8 to open their season, which marked the first of several blowout wins in the first half of the season. Look at how badly they are beating teams.

  • Miami Dolphins: 33-8
  • Tennessee Titans: 41-20
  • Las Vegas Raiders: 40-6
  • Los Angeles Chargers: 38-24

While many will point out how dreadful the Dolphins, Titans, and Raiders are, good teams blow out bad teams, and that's exactly what the Colts did. They didn't just beat them, they beat the hell  out of them. Now after defeating the Chargers, and doing so by two scores, they have a win over a real team as their metaphorical "Are you not entertained?" Showcase.

Back to Jones, though - he's been terrific. He currently leads all quarterbacks in EPA per dropback, he's completing over 71 percent of his passes, and has 14 total touchdowns to just three interceptions. He's currently on pace for 24 touchdown passes and 10 rushing touchdowns while protecting the ball.

The rebirth of Daniel Jones is what makes the Colts stand out from the other teams historical teams. Putting up historically great numbers with Tom Brady, Dan Fouts, and Lamar Jackson is expected to a point - doing so with Daniel Jones is inexplicable and a massive credit to Jones for coming into his own i.e. Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay and Sam Darnold in Minnesota, but also a huge gold star on the resume of Shane Steichen, who has proven himself to be one of the NFL's great minds. 

Whether or not the Colts will have a deep playoff run is obviously yet to be seen. But whatever they write in that chapter of their season won't discredit how tremendous, unexpected, and historic this start has been.

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