The Colts got their first win of the season, but Josh Downs made it clear nobody in Indianapolis should be acting like the job is anywhere close to done.
After Shane Steichen’s team survived the Houston Texans with late-game heroics and a game-winning field goal, Downs - who was the Colts’ best offensive player in the win - sounded far more focused on the cleanup than the celebration. The victory snapped a losing streak that stretched back to last season, but it also came with enough rough edges to keep the message simple: back to work.
"Got the first (win) at home against a divisional rival, so that's pretty cool but, you know, we gotta go back to work and keep going and clean up some stuff," Downs said. "... You gotta go back to work, Honestly, even though we won, we still got things to clean up."
That kind of edge fits the tone of the moment. Downs’ outlook lined up neatly with Kobe Bryant’s famous NBA Finals line: "Job's not finished." The Colts finally got a win, but they didn’t exactly leave Sunday looking like a team that can afford to relax.
And they can’t. A 1-2 start leaves little breathing room, especially with a trip ahead to face a gritty Washington Commanders team that just pulled off a huge upset at home against the defending Super Bowl champions. Indianapolis will also be heading overseas, which means different prep, different routines and even less time to linger on what happened against Houston.
That’s part of why Downs’ approach matters. The Colts are working with essentially the same roster that started last season 8-2, which only adds to the frustration around how uneven they’ve been since then.
They should have handled the Texans by a wider margin on Sunday. Instead, the game went down to the wire, and that should register as another warning sign.
There were positives, though. Lou Anarumo’s defense finally showed life, and DeForest Buckner turned in a throwback performance. There are still questions around the linebacker group, and Sauce Gardner still hasn’t lived up to the hype.
On offense, Daniel Jones is gradually finding a rhythm, Jonathan Taylor is making things happen on the ground, and Downs has kept the chains moving. Put that together, and the Colts have enough pieces to trouble just about anyone.
Still, this is a team that has been streaky for the past couple of years, and one win doesn’t change that. With a tough overseas test coming next, there’s no room for celebrations. It’s only Week 3, and Downs is making sure everybody in that locker room knows it.
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