INDIANAPOLIS - Josh Downs has become the Colts’ most reliable answer on third down, and opponents are treating him like it.
When Daniel Jones gets to the line with pressure building in front of him, Downs is the first place his eyes go. Lately, that has meant finding a crowd of defenders waiting in the same spot.
Over the past two weeks against Washington and Pittsburgh, Downs has caught six passes for 63 yards. Before that, he was coming off back-to-back games against Kansas City and Houston in which he posted six catches and 74.5 yards per game. The production has been steady enough to stand out, and NFL defenses have taken note of it.
“I think they’re certainly aware of him,” Jones said. “Particularly on third down.”
That awareness has changed the way opponents are playing Indianapolis. Pittsburgh repeatedly added a safety or another defensive back to help cover Downs in crucial spots, pushing Jones to look elsewhere.
The Colts’ passing picture makes that easier for defenses right now. Alec Pierce is out, and tight end Tyler Warren has been tougher to locate in the formation.
That leaves Downs as the clearest target. Warren leads Indianapolis with 30 catches for 213 yards and two touchdowns, while Downs is second on the team with 20 receptions for 249 yards.
Downs has felt the extra attention that comes with Pierce missing from the lineup.
“I mean, sometimes a double here and there,” Downs said. “That pretty much sums it up.”
Pierce’s presence changes the geometry of the field. When he’s out there, defenses have to respect the vertical threat, which makes it harder to load up on Downs underneath. Without that, the defense can creep forward and squeeze the room Downs uses to work.
“Everybody knows Alec’s very good going vertical, so they respect that more,” Downs said. “Right now, I feel like teams got to get back to respecting that with us, to open up some other stuff underneath.”
That leaves Downs fighting through tighter windows, and he knows there’s only so much he can do when the coverage tilts heavily toward him.
“I could try to run my route a little better, but I feel like sometimes if they double, the ball just has to go somewhere else,” Downs said.
Jones has been trying to do exactly that, but the numbers show how much the attention has shifted. Downs led the Colts with 20 targets against the Chiefs and Texans, yet Jones has thrown his way only half as often over the last two weeks.
Now the challenge for Indianapolis is figuring out how to punish defenses for keying on Downs. With Pierce sidelined, Jones has leaned more on Keenan Allen and Laquon Treadwell, two veteran receivers in their 30s who need to separate better in big third-down moments.
“We’ve got to be prepared for what defenses do to him,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “They’re doubling him on third down a few times, and when they do that, we’ve got to be able to find the single in those coverages.”
That’s part of the answer. The other part is making Downs harder to isolate in the first place.
He does not often work outside because his size makes press coverage a tough matchup against bigger, stronger corners, but the Colts can still move him around. They can stack three receivers to his side, alter his splits, line him up close to Warren, and try to create confusion before the snap.
“We’ve got to do a great job of moving him around to get him freed up when teams are doing that, because he is a hell of a player and other teams know that,” Steichen said.
The league has clearly figured out what Downs means to this offense. The Colts have to find a way to keep that from turning into a dead end.
Jones needs him open. As much as possible.
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