A 255-yard gap and a wake-up call
Indianapolis were outgained 506-251 by Baltimore on Sunday. Not a single tackle for loss. Not one pass breakup. The 41-23 home defeat handed Shane Steichen’s staff a week of film nobody wanted to sit through, and a trip to Kansas City waiting at the end of it.
“Definitely an eye-opener, definitely a wake-up call,” running back Jonathan Taylor said. “Like, ‘Hey, season’s here.’”
Daniel Jones threw for 166 yards, the lowest figure of his 13 full games in an Indianapolis shirt. He finished 19 of 31 with one touchdown and one interception. His last two seasons ended early through injury, a hairline fracture of the left fibula against these same Chiefs in Week 12 and a torn right Achilles two weeks later against Jacksonville, so the quarterback is used to rebuilding from worse starting points than this.
“We’re excited for it. This is a great opportunity for us,” Jones said. “We know we’ve got to clean some things up.”
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Kansas City found a running back
The Chiefs opened with a 31-10 win at Denver on Monday night, and Patrick Mahomes was not the story. Kenneth Walker III carried 23 times for a career-best 173 yards, added three catches, and scored twice. One of the touchdowns was a 60-yard run on fourth-and-inches.
That kind of production has been absent in Kansas City for a long time. No Chiefs back has rushed for 1,000 yards in a season since 2017, when Kareem Hunt piled up 1,327 and Mahomes was still holding a clipboard behind Alex Smith. Walker signed a three-year, $43.1 million deal in March, a month after being named Super Bowl MVP with Seattle.
“Once he gets the edge, he’s gone,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes himself was returning from a serious left knee injury suffered in mid-December. He went 15 of 27 for 184 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and was blunt about it afterwards: “I didn’t play my best, but we were still able to go out there and beat a really good team.”
Pressure lands on Lou Anarumo
The Colts defensive coordinator took the blame publicly this week. “It always starts with me, and we have to do a better job,” Anarumo said. Facing Walker and Mahomes four days later is a demanding way to prove the point.
Kansas City placed linebacker Cooper McDonald on injured reserve with a right knee problem picked up in Denver. Tackle Josh Simmons and defensive back Chamarri Conner sat out Wednesday. Indianapolis were without backup quarterback Anthony Richardson and receiver Ashton Dulin.
One number gives the visitors something to hold onto. Last November the Chiefs needed the final 14 points across the fourth quarter and overtime to beat these Colts. Indianapolis were eleven points up in that game.
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