Quarterback Daniel Jones was a primary reason why the Indianapolis Colts opened the 2025 season on a hot streak, but he is now a key factor in the team's dreadful start to 2026. Jones ranks among the NFL's least efficient passers through Week 7 and struggled mightily in the Colts' latest loss: A 16-10 rock fight with the Minnesota Vikings. Despite his rough first two months of the campaign, though, coach Shane Steichen said he has no plans to make a quarterback change.
That leaves Jones entrenched in the lineup for a 2-5 team that ranks 25th in total offense per game. "I have not thought about a quarterback change," Steichen said after the loss to Minnesota. "I've got a ton of faith in Daniel.
The game plan today was to go in and run the football. Obviously, at the end, he had the interception. That happens in football." The interception in question was a game-sealer.
Indianapolis had possession with 1:39 to play on Sunday and needed a touchdown to take a late and potentially decisive lead. Two plays into the Colts' final drive of the game, Jones threw a devastating pick to Vikings safety Harrison Smith. He finished the contest 13-for-22 for 108 yards and took four sacks.
Few quarterbacks have been able to move the ball with any kind of consistency against the ferocious Vikings defense, to be fair. But Jones was a uniquely favorable matchup for Minnesota, considering he has been one of the NFL's worst quarterbacks under pressure this season. The Vikings are the league's most proficient team at pressuring the signal-caller, and coordinator Brian Flores uncorked the pass rush to a historic extent in Week 7 by blitzing Jones on 85.2% of his dropbacks.
That was the highest blitz rate by any defense in a game in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016). Jones said it "means a lot" to have his coach's confidence after such a rough showing. "It's my job to play well, to put the team in position to win games," Jones said.
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