Colts' Daniel Jones quiets critics by scoring on every drive of season opener vs. Dolphins
The Colts' decision to start Jones over Anthony Richardson was controversial, but it paid off in Week 1
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The Indianapolis Colts will be one of the major storylines to come from NFL Week 1, as they defeated the Miami Dolphins, 33-8. This was the first season opener the Colts have won since 2013, as they went 0-10-1 from 2014-24, snapping the longest active streak in the NFL.
The Colts got impressive play out of their new quarterback, Daniel Jones. He completed 22 of 29 passes for 272 yards and one touchdown, and rushed seven times for 26 yards and two more scores. In fact, Jones put together the best start of his career on Sunday, and one of his best NFL games ever.
According to CBS Sports Research, Week 1 marked the first time a Daniel Jones-led team scored on every first-half drive in his 70 NFL starts. The Colts would go on to score on every single drive -- becoming the first team since at least 2000, regular season or postseason, to score on every possession.
| Drive | Plays and yards | Result |
|---|---|---|
1 | 9 plays, 62 yards | 24-yard FG |
2 | 14 plays, 84 yards | 27-yard Michael Pittman Jr. TD |
3 | 5 plays, 42 yards | Jones 1-yard rushing TD |
4 | 17 plays, 72 yards | 35-yard FG |
| 5 | 7 plays, 48 yards | 28-yard FG |
| 6 | 15 plays, 69 yards | Jones 1-yard rushing TD |
| 7 | 7 plays, 21 yards | 48-yard FG |
The Colts completely dominated the Dolphins, racking up 418 yards of total offense compared to Miami's 211. Indy picked up 27 first downs compared to 12 from Miami, and won the turnover battle, 3-0. The 20-point lead marked the Colts' largest halftime lead in a season opener since 1994, while this is the first time the Dolphins were shut out in the first half in a season opener since 2009.
The former No. 6 overall pick of the New York Giants went 24-44-1 as a starter in his first six NFL seasons. Jones put together just one winning campaign in 2022, where the Giants finished 9-6-1, and then upset the Minnesota Vikings in the wild card round. It was enough for the Giants to reward Jones with a four-year, $160 million extension that next offseason, but things would go south from there. Jones would win just three more games for the Giants over the next two seasons, leading to his release in the middle of last year.
How the Colts began Week 1 was certainly surprising, but it's fair to say that Jones has rewarded Shane Steichen's confidence in him early on.
