NFL Week 3 is stuffed with lure video games; that the Colts did not simply keep away from one, however blew out the Titans, may say rather a lot about this workforce

Defensively, the Colts sacked Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward 4 occasions and held him to simply 5.8 yards per try; veteran operating again Tony Pollard carried 16 occasions for simply 45 yards.

Zooming out, the Colts averaged 6.9 yards per play to the Titans’ 4.3 and have been penalized 4 occasions to Tennessee’s eight. The Colts have been the extra disciplined and extra bodily workforce, and constantly stored the Titans are arm’s size, not letting the house workforce generate any form of sustained momentum.

“I think at the end of the day, it wasn’t even really about them, it was about us,” linebacker Zaire Franklin mentioned. “It was just an opportunity for us to play our type of, our brand of football. Offensively, be efficient and take care of the ball, defensively play physical, execute and take the ball away. And then we even got a punt in today, so congratulations to Rigo. So I think it was just a complete team win, and we just gotta continue to build on it.”

Sanchez’s punt was the product of a uncommon offensive blemish – it got here after the Colts’ first three-and-out of the season – however the Colts are nonetheless the one workforce since 1945 to punt one or fewer occasions within the first three video games of a season. More importantly, they’re 3-0 for the primary time since 2009.

And whereas the Colts have been in a position to keep away from a basic “trap” sport due to their focus and self-discipline main as much as Sunday, there’s an acknowledgement {that a} 3-0 document will not matter if that very same focus and self-discipline does not proceed.

“I think it’s just a different energy,” defensive finish Kwity Paye mentioned. “Just wanting to win every single day, not just on Sundays. It starts every single day, prepping and just wanting to compete every single day and just be better. It’s like we just continue to carry momentum from Monday all the way through Sunday.”

While the overwhelming majority of groups that begin a season 3-0 make the playoffs, there is a current instance of 1 that did not: The 2024 Seattle Seahawks, who went 3-0, misplaced their subsequent three video games and wound up simply exterior the playoffs final yr with a 10-7 document.

In 2021, the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos each began 3-0 and completed with shedding information.

“We just gotta continue to prove we can be consistent and continue to build on these things and definitely not let complacency set in,” proper sort out Braden Smith mentioned. “Definitely excited to be 3-0, but it’s something I tell myself — if we lose the rest of the games, then it doesn’t really matter.”

But the purpose right here is any workforce can say they’re preaching self-discipline and focus after a powerful begin to a season. Not each workforce is ready to flip that mantra right into a 21-point win.

And over the previous few years, the Colts have been that plucky underdog taking part in spoiler in Week 3 – suppose again to 2022, when the Colts beat the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3; in 2023, the Colts took out the eventual AFC No. 1 seed Baltimore Ravens in extra time.

In 2025, it wasn’t the underdog Titans taking out the Colts.

It was the Colts doing what good groups do.

“We saw it throughout camp – we thought that we were this team, and everybody just kind of kept throwing us under the bus for whatever reason,” extensive receiver Michael Pittman Jr. mentioned. “And it’s nice to be 3-0, but just got to keep doing it.”