The Colts have a halftime lead in their first game of the post-Chris Ballard era.
Jonathan Taylor’s 38-yard touchdown run in the first quarter staked the Colts to an early lead and a field goal just before halftime stretched their lead over the Vikings to 10-6 midway through Sunday’s game in Minneapolis.
Taylor has eight carries for 53 yards overall and the Colts have only picked up 107 yards on offense, but that’s been enough thanks to a Vikings offense that hasn’t executed in the biggest moments. They failed to convert on fourth down inside the Indianapolis 40-yard-line on their first possession and are just 2-of-7 on third downs overall. Two of those failures led to field goals and the Vikings will need to be sharper in those spots over the final 30 minutes to remain undefeated.
The Colts are 5-of-8 on those third down situations, which has gone a long way toward mitigating some of their less impressive offensive numbers. They’ll get the ball to start the third quarter and they can put the Vikings in a deep hole if they can continue to find the right plays at key moments.
The Vikings got a big kickoff return to open Sunday’s home game, but the Colts are on the board first.
After taking over in Colts territory thanks to Myles Price’s return, the Vikings faced a fourth-and-1 from the Colts’ 38-yard-line. They passed on a Will Reichard field goal and handed the ball to running back Aaron Jones out of the pistol. The Colts dropped Jones for a loss and took a lead a short time later.
Quarterback Daniel Jones converted a pair of third downs and running back Jonathan Taylor broke loose for 38-yard touchdown on the next first down.
The score has the Colts up 7-0 with under 10 minutes to play in the first quarter in Minneapolis.
The Jets won’t be getting running back Breece Hall back in the lineup for Sunday’s home date against the Dolphins.
Hall was listed as questionable on Friday due to the quad injury that’s kept him out for the last two games, but he wound up on the wrong side of that decision when the team released its inactive list for Week 7. Hall was limited in practice during the week and a move to full practice may be necessary for him to get back in the lineup.
Braelon Allen has 41 carries for 194 yards and a touchdown as the starter in Hall’s absence.
While Hall remains out, the Jets will be getting wide receiver Adonai Mitchell back in the lineup. He’s missed the last four games with a finger injury.
Dolphins at Jets
Dolphins: LB Willie Gay, WR Jalen Tolbert, CB Marcellas Dial, CB Reese Taylor, DE Rob Beal, OL DJ Campbell, OT Chukwuebuka Godrick
Jets: CB Jarvis Brownlee, RB Kene Nwangwu, RB Breece Hall, LB Joseph Ossai, OL Max Mitchell, G Dylan Parham, DL Jack Heflin
49ers at Falcons
49ers: DE Nick Bosa, WR Mike Evans, WR Deebo Samuel, LB Luke Gifford, LB Garret Wallow, S Marques Sigle, QB Kurtis Rourke
Falcons: QB Jack Strand, LB Divine Deablo, CB Avieon Terrell, QB Andy Dalton, WR Olamide Zaccheaus, RB Brian Robinson, DB Billy Bowman
Giants at Texans
Giants: OL Josh Sills, TE Theo Johnson, OL Marcus Mbow, CB Greg Newsome, CB Nikko Reed, S Jevon Holland, QB Jake Haener
Texans: T Blake Fisher, G Febechi Nwaiwu, T Nathan Thomas, TE Marlin Klein, RB David Montgomery, S Jalen Pitre, S Reed Blankenship
Bengals at Ravens
Bengals: S Russ Yeast, C Connor Lew, OT Myles Hinton, DE Shemar Stewart, DT Landon Robinson
Ravens: QB Lamar Jackson, S Jaylinn Hawkins, WR Elijah Sarratt, G Andrew Vorhees, DT Broderick Washington
Buccaneers at Panthers
Buccaneers: DL DeMonte Capehart, WR Emeka Egbuka, CB Ayden Garnes, T Luke Goedeke, G Billy Schrauth, S Antoine Winfield Jr.
Panthers: TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, LB Jaelan Phillips, QB Haynes King, RB AJ Dillon, C Sam Hecht, OT Stone Forsythe, DT TeRah Edwards
Colts at Vikings
Colts: LB Bryce Boettcher, LB CJ Allen, CB Sauce Gardner, TE Tyler Warren, WR Anthony Gould, G Dalton Tucker, QB Riley Leonard
Vikings: S Jakobe Thomas, QB Max Brosmer, CB Chuck Demmings, RB Demond Claiborne, OT Caleb Tiernan, DL Elijah Williams
Browns at Titans
Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, CB Noah Igbinoghene, RB Audric Estime, DT Mike Hall Jr., C Parker Brailsford
Titans: WR Calvin Ridley, RB Tyjae Spears, RB Nick Singleton, TE Kylen Granson, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, DT Jackie Marshall, CB Jaylon Jones
When the Colts G.M. job became vacant six days ago, former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was one of the first names to be mentioned.
As expected, Manning reportedly is not expected to be a candidate.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Colts haven’t approached Manning about the job. Even if they do, he’s not expected to be interested.
Frankly, if Manning wanted to live that life, he’d already be living it. If he’d ever do something like that, he’d surely make it his full and complete focus. He has instead budgeted his time to do various different things, all of which seem to be lucrative.
Will there be a time when he’d be willing to devote all of his time to helping a team win as many games as possible? Maybe. For now, he’s got too much going on to go all-in with the task of running an NFL team.
And if he ever lands in a spot like that, it could be after he makes enough money through Omaha Productions and other projects to become the controlling owner of a franchise. The only problem in this regard is that, as his holdings continue to increase, the price of an NFL team goes up at an even faster rate.
With the Colts turning the page at the top of the front office — and possibly, in time, at the top of the coaching staff — the possibility of trading veteran players is on the table.
But with the deadline still 16 days away, and with most of three full weekends left to be played, it’s still too early to sell off contracts.
Via the Batman-and-Joker turned Batman-and-Robin of ESPNFL, the plan is to see whether the Colts can improve their 2-4 record in the coming three games against the Vikings, Jaguars, and Cowboys before deciding whether to trade away certain players.
The biggest name of the bunch belongs to running back Jonathan Taylor. Per the carefully (but also a little clunkily) worded report: “The Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Vikings are among the teams that have, or are expected to, pondered the possibility of a trade for the star running back, according to sources.”
That feels like an effort by the Colts to maximize the market, in an effort to maximize the return. The more teams that are at the table, the more the Colts will get for their biggest star.
The Colts gave Taylor a new contract in the offseason, a two-year, $44 million extension. A trade would result in a 2027 cap charge of $10 million, and it would shift the final two years of his current deal to his next team, at a compensation package of $16.02 million for 2027 and $17.98 million in 2028. The deal also has $1 million in incentives attached to each of the final two seasons.
The Colts don’t have a first-round draft pick in 2027, thanks to the Sauce Gardner trade. Surely, they’d want at least that much for Taylor, especially after giving him a $15 million signing bonus when Taylor signed his extension.
Of the teams that were listed, the Vikings, Broncos, and Seahawks make the most sense. Each is a contender with an offense that would benefit from the presence of an elite tailback. The Packers, who are getting Josh Jacobs back today, make the least sense; adding them to the list seems to be nothing more than an effort to get the Vikings to give up a little more in an effort to ensure he won’t land with a viable division rival.
Other potential trade candidates mentioned by the report include veteran defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (who could go back to the 49ers, who traded him to the Colts), guard Quenton Nelson (who’s in the last year of his deal), and defensive tackle Grover Stewart.
Whatever the Colts do, or don’t do, at the trade deadline will impact the deck of cards the next G.M. has. Without knowing who the next G.M. will be, it’s impossible to know whether that person would prefer to have Taylor moving forward or whatever the Colts can get for him.
Regardless — and this is true for any team thinking about trading players before the deadline — the remaining weeks will be a factor. Some teams won’t be ready to make their moves until Week 9 has ended; in some cases, the final decision hinges on winning or losing in the last game before the window closes.
