Football Footnotes: How have the Colts emerged as the NFL's best? Ask a Steeler who would know
The Indianapolis Colts are one of the feel-good stories of the year.
Based on how their offense is humming and how badly the Steelers’ defense is performing, I’m expecting most of Indiana to be feeling pretty good by about 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
The Colts visit Acrisure Stadium to play the Steelers with a record of 7-1, the NFL’s highest scoring offense (33.8 points per game) and the league’s No. 1 total offense (385.3 yards per game). The Steelers, meanwhile, have the 30th-ranked defense (386 yards allowed per game). It has allowed 30 points or more four times already this season.
Oh yeah, the Colts have beaten the Steelers two years in a row as well.
Wrong opponent, wrong time for the Black and Gold.
So, how did the Colts go from an 8-9 outfit that missed the playoffs last year to a team with the best record in football approaching the halfway mark of the season? I decided to ask someone who would know.
Former Colt Trey Sermon is now a running back with the Steelers. He was in Indianapolis each of the past two seasons, the first two of head coach Shane Steichen’s tenure.
For this Friday’s “Football Footnotes,” Sermon shared his knowledge in our “Breakfast With Benz” podcast.
• Is Indianapolis’ success at all surprising to you? Or did you have a vibe that this might be coming this year for that group?
“You could kind of tell that that’s what it was building up to,” Sermon said. “The past two years, when I was there, it was a lot of close games. I felt like they were just a few missing pieces away from having a lot of success. I feel like they found that this year.”
To underscore Sermon’s point, 13 of Indy’s 17 games were one-score affairs in 2024. Their average scoring differential was 6.4 points.
This year, their lone defeat was a 27-20 loss in Los Angeles against the Rams. Their average margin of victory has been 17.5 points. The team’s point differential is a whopping plus-116. Kansas City is second-best at plus-83.
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• What did you make of Shane Steichen as a coach?
“He’s a great coach. A great offensive-minded coach,” Sermon answered. “He has a very good understanding of the game, getting into the flow and calling the game. I felt like he’s done a great job of that — even when he was an (offensive coordinator) in Philly.”
Steichen’s Colts beat the Steelers, 27-24, last year with a combination of Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco at quarterback. In 2023, Gardner Minshew and the Colts smoked the Steelers, 30-13. And when he was OC in Philadelphia, Steichen piloted Jalen Hurts to four touchdowns as the Steelers were blown out across the state 35-13 in 2023.
• Going into games against the Steelers, what was the game plan and did you have significant confidence that it would work?
“The plan going in was just to rely on the basics. That’s running the ball,” Sermon said. “Indianapolis is known for having a great offensive line, especially running behind Quenton Nelson, getting him pulling around to help get the backs on the edge. But the bread and butter is just running that outside zone.”
In those three games dating to 2023 with the Eagles, Steichen’s teams averaged 138 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry on 86 attempts for 414 yards.
Sermon led the Colts with 88 rushing yards in the 2023 matchup. His career high was 89 yards with San Francisco in 2021.
• Does it make sense to you that Daniel Jones is doing as well as he’s doing in Steichen’s offense?
“Yeah, it definitely makes sense. Just watching around the league and seeing Daniel Jones before, he definitely has a unique talent,” Sermon replied. “I feel like that system fits him pretty well. He’s definitely one of the main reasons why they’re having a lot of success.”
JD in the endzone ????
???? CBS pic.twitter.com/1DpMHTEPK5
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 26, 2025
Jones’ passer rating (109.5), average yards per attempt (8.5) and completion percentage (71.2) are all career highs. He also has a 13:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
The Steelers beat Jones twice when he was a member of the New York Giants. He posted a passer rating of 76.1 in those two games.
• As a fellow running back, what can you tell us about Jonathan Taylor that we don’t know? What makes him as good as he is?
“His vision and his stop-and-start ability,” Sermon responded. “His vision is exceptional. He’s very patient — letting everything develop. And his ability to go from zero to 100 is a unique talent, especially having that size (5-foot-10, 226 pounds).
JT HOUSE CALL
???? CBS pic.twitter.com/PctKi2Pvhs
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 26, 2025
Taylor’s 850 yards, 12 rushing touchdowns and 44 first downs all lead the NFL. He hasn’t fumbled in an NFL-high 143 attempts.
• When you saw on draft day that the Colts went with Tyler Warren from Penn State, did you figure out right away that he was going to be the addition that he has been?
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Sermon said. “That whole system is built on having a true No. 1 tight end that’s a receiving threat. When they picked him, I knew that was going to be a good addition.”
Daniel Jones finds the rookie Tyler Warren for 39 yards!
DENvsIND on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/rVROWHIWAX
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
As a rookie, Warren has 492 receiving yards. That’s more than any tight end in football. He also has three touchdowns.
• Have any of the defensive players picked your brain about how to stop these guys?
“I kind of talked to some of the guys, mostly the linebackers. I was telling them how (Taylor) likes to run his outside zone. That’s pretty much it,” Sermon said. “They’ve done a good job studying the film. I’m always here to help them.”
Thanks, Trey. They’ll need all the help they can get.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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