INDIANAPOLIS — A 2026 Colts season that was supposed to tell Indianapolis the future of the franchise may have given its answer on Sunday.
Playing ugly, Indianapolis blew a commanding first-half lead with bad quarterback play, special-teams mistakes and an ugly game plan, dropping a 26-20 decision to the previously winless Titans, a loss that puts the attention on Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon.
Indianapolis (2-4) now finds itself staring its future in the face.
Colts QB Daniel Jones vs. Titans defensive coordinator Gus Bradley
The book on Bradley’s defenses has been the same since he left the Legion of Boom.
A quarterback simply has to take what the defense is giving him, avoid the impulse to force the ball downfield and it will probably lead to points.
Jones failed the test on Sunday.
Indianapolis came out of the locker room throwing, mindful of Tennessee’s numbers in the running game to this point of the season. Bradley sometimes changes up his plans when he’s going against a familiar opponent, but for the most part, his coverage philosophy remains the same: Drop back, avoid the explosive play, make a team drive the length of the field.
The first big mistake was not Jones’ fault. Rolling right, Jones threw a ball to Josh Downs that might have been a little high but has to be caught. A short hop by Downs got both hands on the ball, and it popped into the air long enough for Titans safety Amani Hooker to make an interception.
The rest of the issues were largely on Jones.
Uncertain in the pocket for much of the day, Jones took four sacks, including at least two on blitzes cooked up by Tennessee. The Titans’ blitz package might have been unscouted looks — Bradley is not known for blitzing — but Indianapolis did a terrible job of handling the blitz, a problem that has plagued the Colts all season long.
Jones also made a terrible decision in the second half. With the Colts already well within field-goal range, Jones had running back Seth McGowan open in the flat but he opted to try to fire the ball into tight end Will Mallory in the middle of three Titans defensive backs, and Cordale Flott picked it off to take points off the board on an interception for the second time Sunday.
The Titans gave Jones one last chance to salvage his day. Tennessee wasn’t able to run out the clock, and it left Jones with a two-minute drill to save the game.
Jones misfired on first down, failed to get the ball out before a blitz on second down, got sacked on third down and he had two late passes batted away to clinch the loss.
Indianapolis bet heavily on Jones on the belief that the Colts had discovered something that the Giants weren’t able to find.
Unfortunately, what happened with Jones in 2025 appears to have been a mirage.
Titans special teams coordinator Jim Fassel vs. Colts special teams coordinator Brian Mason
Mason has typically been one of the bright spots in Indianapolis, a coordinator plucked out of the college ranks who has presided over solid units.
Fassel, on the other hand, is a 17-year veteran with a sterling reputation.
The veteran won the battle by a wide margin on Sunday, particularly by finding a hole in the Colts’ punt protection unit.
Mason never found a fix. Tennessee nearly blocked two of Rigoberto Sanchez’s offerings, getting flagged for running into the kicker and forcing Sanchez to speed himself up on the second.
Because of the pressure, Sanchez didn’t get his usual directional kick and Titans return man Chimere Dike, a first-team All-Pro last year, had plenty of space.
Dike found a seam, hit the burners and nearly returned the punt for a touchdown, racing 58 yards before a valiant tackle attempt by Sanchez slowed Dike enough for a hustling Gushiken to run Dike down.
Then the disaster happened. Unable to find a fix up the middle, Indianapolis allowed Titans running back Julius Chestnut to come flying through the middle and blowup Sanchez, taking the ball off his foot and sending it to Oluwafemi Oladejo, who returned the blocked punt 14 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
Mason typically has the answers in the kicking game.
Fassel beat him on the punt block.
Colts cornerbacks vs. Titans WR Carnell Tate
Tennessee quarterback Cam Ward is clearly far from a finished product.
Ward completed 11 of 22 passes for 102 yards, and he missed a handful of throws that could have put the Colts away much earlier than the second half.
But the Titans do have one top-5 pick who looks pretty good. Tate, the No. 4 pick in April’s draft, gave Tennessee’s passing offense enough juice to take advantage of the Indianapolis mistakes on offense and special teams.
Working against a Colts secondary that did not have Sauce Gardner for more than a half due to a calf injury, Tate caught six passes for 70 yards, including a gorgeous toe-tap touchdown to tie the game.
Tate also set up Tennessee’s go-ahead field goal by beating Gardner’s replacement, Cam Taylor-Britt, on a deep pass, drawing a 36-yard flag for pass interference that essentially set up Joey Slye for a field goal immediately.
Indianapolis built this defense around its cornerbacks.
The bet hasn’t paid off.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Daniel Jones, Colts special teams and corners get beat in their matchups vs winless Titans
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