Daniel Jones Must Bounce Back For Indianapolis Colts in Week 10

It was going to happen at some point and it finally did last Sunday.

Daniel Jones reverted back to … old Daniel Jones.

The Indianapolis Colts surely didn’t like meeting that version of Jones as he threw three interceptions, lost two fumbles and was sacked five times during a 27-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That’s five turnovers by Jones alone in one game, kind of reminiscent of the New York Giants’ Daniel Jones.

That organization parted ways with Jones last season during his sixth NFL campaign.

Jones finished the season with the Minnesota Vikings and hooked up with the Colts in the offseason.

He was the backup option in case 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson didn’t pan out again.

And, yeah, Richardson certainly isn’t the answer if the question goes like this: “Is he a starting NFL quarterback?”

So Jones became the starter and the Colts quickly responded to having a veteran who knows what he’s doing on the field.

Indianapolis stunningly won its first three games. Then after a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Colts responded with four straight victories and scored at least 31 points in each game.

This offensive explosion was happening with Daniel Jones running the show, not Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck. (Or Johnny Unitas if you like your Colts talked about with a Baltimore spin).

Jones threw nine touchdown passes during the four-game winning streak and was intercepted just once. He was making the right throws and avoiding miscues.

Even better, he was intercepted just three times in the first eight games.

This was the Daniel Jones Colts coach Shane Steichen was glad to know.

At the same time, running back Jonathan Taylor was becoming the rare running back able to submit his name into the NFL MVP race. With 14 total touchdowns, he could threaten the all-time record of 31 set by San Diego Chargers legend LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006.

You can bet Taylor knows Tomlinson won the MVP award.

The Taylor-Jones ticket had the Colts holding an NFL-best 7-1 record entering the contest against Pittsburgh.

But the bottom fell out as Taylor was held to a season-low 45 rushing yards to go along with Jones’ miscues.

On one of the picks, Jones made a poor decision and threw the ball directly to Pittsburgh’s Payton Wilson, who returned it to the Indy 14-yard line to set up a touchdown.

Both fumbles were on strip-sacks, one by T.J. Watt and the other by Alex Highsmith. The Colts had a 10-0 edge in first downs 18-plus minutes into the game before the Watt play changed the momentum.

Big mistakes equaled a disappointing loss. For a day, Indianapolis looked more pretender than contender.

That makes Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons in Berlin a huge one for Jones and the Colts.

Losing again to go with another Jones subpar performance would make for a very unhappy bye week. Indianapolis needs to restore the good times before that break.

The 2025 version of Jones is capable of bouncing back. He surprisingly leads the NFL with 2,404 passing yards while throwing 14 touchdowns against six interceptions.

In terms of protecting Jones, Indianapolis is home to perhaps the best guard in the game in seven-time Pro Bowler Quenton Nelson.

Yeah, I know nobody buys tickets to watch guards play unless it’s the NBA. But if you were told you had to fork out the dough to watch one, you would be booking travel to Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, Jones has instilled hope in a team where not much was expected by outsiders. The Colts are the best team in the AFC South and have a sparkling 5-0 home mark.

Simply put, these Colts are 7-2 because Jones is the quarterback.

What Indianapolis needs is for the old Daniel Jones to stay in hiding. Look at last week as a blip and not the beginning of a downward spiral.

After all, Manning holds the Colts’ franchise record of six interceptions in a game.

The new Daniel Jones has no interest in ever sharing that mark.