Raiders at Colts: What to watch for
 | Sat, October 4, 2025 at 3:34 PM |
INDIANAPOLIS - Areas of interest in the Indianapolis Colts' meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium:
- Kickoff: 1 p.m.
- Broadcast: FOX59.
- Spread: Colts by 6½.
History lesson, Part I
The overall series is tied at 11-all. The Colts have won eight of the last 11, including two straight. Indy won the most recent meeting 23-20 on Dec. 31, 2023, behind quarterback Gardner Minshew II.
An interesting tidbit regarding the series? It involves a pair of nomadic franchises. The Colts' history spans Baltimore and Indy, while the Raiders have called Oakland, Los Angeles, Oakland again and Las Vegas home.
The venues include Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, the Hoosier Dome/RCA Dome and Lucas Oil in Indy, and the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, the Oakland/Alameda County/McAfee Coliseum and Allegiant Stadium in Vegas.
History lesson: Part II
The chance at a 17-0 season evaporated last Sunday at SoFi Stadium (OK, not really a chance, but it's still true), but the Colts can get off to their first 4-1 start since 2013 against the Raiders. And that was a very nice season. With Andrew Luck in his second year, the Colts would finish 11-5, win the AFC South and author the second-largest comeback in postseason history in the first round against Kansas City. They fell behind 38-10 in the third quarter but roared back for a 45-44 victory.
Successful rebound
Consider us semi-encouraged by the 27-20 loss on the road to the Rams - it was sooooo winnable - and more than a little optimistic Daniel Jones & Co. will get back on track against Las Vegas. We just don't see the Colts turning the ball over three times. We don't see AD Mitchell or anyone else losing control of the football before crossing the goal line. We don't see another 11-penalty afternoon. And we certainly don't expect the Colts to be a man short at any point on offense, defense or special teams.
The Colts have lost 19 straight games with at least three turnovers and Jones is 1-12 in his career when he has at least two interceptions, and has lost 12 in a row. Until proven otherwise, last Sunday was an aberration.
Adversity reveals a ton about a team.
"Being able to face a little adversity like we did this past Sunday, how we're going to bounce back, how we're going to respond,'' DeForest Buckner said. "I feel like the guys will be ready.''
What of Mitchell?
This past week undoubtedly was one of the most difficult in AD Mitchell's athletic life. He cost the Colts two TDs in the one-score loss to the Rams: The inexcusable fumble short of the goal line and a holding penalty that negated Jonathan Taylor's 53-yard TD that would have given Indy a 27-20 lead with just over 2 minutes remaining.
Mitchell apologized to the team, but there was a good chance he either would see a diminished role against the Raiders or be a healthy scratch. Alec Pierce's situation changed things. He missed the Rams game with a concussion, which led to expanded snaps for Mitchell, and was unable to clear the NFL's protocol this week.
That means Mitchell almost certainly will be active, but we're still expecting a limited role. We're expecting special teams standout Ashton Dulin to be the No. 3 wideout option behind Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs. Dulin, by the way, has been on the field for 41 offensive plays and 68 special teams snaps in four games. He has one catch for 11 yards on one target.
Obviously, rookie tight end Tyler Warren's presence helps ease the loss of Pierce.
Control Maxx
There are a handful of defensive players who can absolutely wreck a game. Myles Garrett. TJ Watt. Aiden Hutchinson. Micah Parsons. One of the Bosas, when healthy. And Maxx Crosby.
"I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to describe it,'' offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said when asked about Crosby's threat. "He's a force on the field. He's one of the best players in the league. He plays just about every single down of the game, and he plays at maximum intensity every single down he's out there. He competes to and through the whistle.
"If we weren't playing against him, he's a pleasure to watch play football.''
As Cooter mentioned, Crosby's threat is constant. He's been on the field for at least 95% of the snaps in each season since 2022, and is at 99% through four games. The 6-5, 255-pound bundle of menace has 2 sacks, five QB hits, 15 pressures, one interception and seven tackles for loss in 238 snaps.
Since being selected in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, Cross leads the NFL with 112 tackles for loss - he led the league with 22 in '22 and 23 in '23 - and is 6thwith 61.5 sacks.
He'll be an edge stress test for left tackle Bernhard Raimann and right tackle Braden Smith.
What about Crosby most impresses Jones?
"Just his motor, how hard he plays play-in and play-out,'' he said. "I think when you think about all the best players at that position, that's the first thing you see, is just how hard they play every single play.''
Here's an interesting tidbit. The Raiders' sack leader through four games: Backup tackle Jonah Laulu with 3. He was a 2024 seventh-round pick of the Colts.
Focus on the backs
It hasn't been that long ago that the importance of running backs was diminishing. Well, no longer.
Sunday, two high-profile backs will be on display. The Raiders invested the No. 6 overall pick in the April draft on Ashton Jeanty. He was relatively quiet in his first three games - 144 yards and one TD on 47 carries - before breaking loose for 138 yards and three TDs on 21 attempts in last Sunday's 25-24 loss to Chicago.
The Colts run defense is tied-8th in yards per game allowed (102.8) but 20th in yards per attempt (4.5). Wrap up Jeanty early, or pay the price.
Eliminating the rookie back as a threat will allow defensive end Laiatu Latu and the Colts defensive front to turn their attention to quarterback Geno Smith. He's thrown for 948 yards and six TDs, but also leads the NFL with seven interceptions and has been sacked 12 times. The Raiders' nine turnovers are most in the league.
Las Vegas' offensive line took a major hit when left tackle Kolton Miller was placed on IR Tuesday with a fractured ankle.
Indy, meanwhile, is riding Taylor, its 2020 second-round pick. Heading into week 5, he led the league in rushing attempts (77) and yards (414). Taylor is on an absolute heater. Over his last nine games, he's piled up 1,137 yards and nine TDs on 219 attempts. That's 126.3 yards per game and 5.2 per attempt.
He's also heated up whenever facing the Raiders defense. In four meetings, Taylor has averaged 125.3 yards per game and 6.0 per attempt. He's eclipsed the 100-yard mark three times: 150 as a rookie in 2020, 147 in 2022 and 108 in '21.
The Raiders defense is No. 13 in yards per game (102.8) and No. 14 in yards per attempt (4.0).
Tight end tandem
Sunday was supposed to showcase two of the NFL's premier young tight ends. The Colts made Warren the 14th overall pick in April. In 2024, Indy thought they might get Brock Bowers with the 15th overall pick, but the Raiders snatched him at No. 13.
Now, there seems to be a good chance Bowers won't be available. He's listed questionable for the game after missing practice Thursday and Friday with a knee injury. On top of that in Vegas' tight ends news, Michael Mayer was downgraded from questionable to out with a concussion and Albert Okwuegbunam was elevated to the active roster from the practice squad.
The Colts clearly will continue to lean on Warren. He has 19 receptions for a team-high 263 yards and scored his first NFL TD against the Rams from the 2 as a fullback.
And the winner is: Colts 31, Raiders 18.
Just take care of the football, control Jeanty, swarm Smith and exit Lucas Oil with win No. 4. It's never easy in the NFL, but this shouldn't be complicated.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.
via: https://fox59.com/news/raiders-at-colts-what-to-watch-for/
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