The Colts left the United Kingdom with their second win of the season, and that mattered most in Week 4. But the part that will linger is how much of the celebration still ran through Jonathan Taylor.
Indianapolis started 0-2, a beginning that already felt too familiar after the way last season ended. Two straight wins have changed the mood around the team and, just as importantly, changed the way the AFC South looks. The Colts are now 2-2 and still firmly alive in the playoff hunt, with a path back into the division race that looks a lot cleaner than it did two weeks ago.
That is the external read. The internal one is less comfortable.
The Colts likely hoped not to be forced to overload Taylor this season the way they did last year. Instead, with the offense not looking good so far, they’ve been pushed right back toward the same place. Taylor has been asked to carry a heavy load again, and the numbers show it: he is in the top three in rushing attempts with 86, ranks fifth in rushing yards with 353, and is second in the NFL with six rushing touchdowns.
He has done all of that without topping 100 rushing yards in any game this season.
Against the Washington Commanders, Taylor was once again the centerpiece. He ran for 95 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Colts’ Week 4 win, the kind of performance that keeps Indianapolis afloat even when the rest of the offense is still sorting itself out.
That tension is what makes the Colts’ position so interesting now. On one hand, the standings have improved enough that they can talk about more than just getting back on track. The Colts have a chance to return to the playoffs and win the AFC South, and after Week 4 they are in a much better spot than some of their competitors.
On the other hand, the same win sharpened the question of how sustainable that position really is if Taylor has to keep doing this much. Shane Steichen’s system is built around spreading the ball around, but Taylor still has to be allowed to do his thing within it. When the offense is uneven, that balance gets harder to maintain.
There is also the quarterback backdrop hanging over all of it. Daniel Jones was re-signed to a two-year deal that can pay him as much as $88 million, with an out after the first season that would save the Colts $38 million toward the 2027 season. That contract sits in the background while the team tries to figure out whether the offense can become more than a Taylor-driven rescue plan.
For now, the Colts have the result they needed. They stopped the early-season slide, moved back into the conversation in the AFC South, and avoided letting a 0-2 start define the month. But the way they got there made the next question unavoidable: if this is what their best version looks like, how much of it depends on Taylor carrying them there?