Indianapolis and Washington kicked off their Week 4 matchup Sunday morning at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, with both teams sitting at 1-2 and looking to build on wins from the week before. This one is still being played out as of this writing, but the early storylines already say a lot about where both franchises stand right now.
It didn't take long for things to go sideways for Indianapolis. On the Colts' very first offensive play, quarterback Daniel Jones had a pass batted down at the line. Their second play was worse, Jones got sacked by Washington's Odafe Oweh, fumbled, and Oweh recovered it himself. Washington took over at the 21-yard line and cashed in with a 31-yard Drew Stevens field goal, just two minutes into the game.
It got a little better for Washington from there. The Commanders forced a quick three-and-out, then added a second field goal after a third-down sack kept them from taking a bigger early lead. By the end of the first quarter, Washington led 6-0.
This game was already going to be a tough one for the Commanders before kickoff, given who's missing. Starting quarterback Jayden Daniels was ruled out with an elbow injury, head coach Dan Quinn confirmed, which meant backup Marcus Mariota got the start. That plan hit trouble too. Mariota came out questionable with a knee injury during the game, pushing third-stringer Athan Kaliakmanis into action.
On top of the quarterback shuffle, Washington is also without wide receiver Terry McLaurin, running back Rachaad White, safety Nick Cross and guard Sam Cosmi, all ruled out for this one. For a team already working with a patchwork roster, that's a lot of key pieces missing at once.
Coming into Sunday, both clubs were fresh off wins. Indianapolis beat Houston 19-17 the week before, while Washington knocked off a previously undefeated Seattle team, becoming the first 0-2 team to beat the defending Super Bowl champion in Week 3 since the Bengals did it to the Steelers back in 1980. That result alone had given the Commanders some real momentum heading into London.
The Colts came in carrying a few streaks of their own. Indianapolis has gone 30 straight games without a red zone giveaway, the longest active streak in the league, and the team has just 15 penalties on the season, tied for fewest in the NFL. Running back Jonathan Taylor is also a name to watch, after putting up one of the best individual performances in NFL international history last season, 244 yards and three touchdowns including the overtime winner, in a Colts win over Atlanta in London.
Vegas had Indianapolis as the favorite heading in, by anywhere from 4 to 4.5 points depending on the book, with the point total set in the high 46 to 48 range.
This marks the second time the two franchises have played against each other in recent memory, following a tight 17-16 Washington win back in 2022. Indianapolis still leads the all-time series 21-11, for whatever that's worth heading into a game this far removed from most of that history.
With Washington already down its top two quarterbacks and several other starters, and Indianapolis having stumbled out of the gate with a turnover on their opening series, this game looked unpredictable early, regardless of what the pregame odds suggested. The early 6-0 Washington lead came almost entirely off a Colts mistake rather than a sustained offensive drive, which is usually a sign a game could tighten up or swing either direction as it goes on.
Check back for the final score and full recap once the game wraps up at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
