Daniel Jones leads Colts to record-breaking offensive start, Raiders struggle in historic loss

By Canadian Press on October 22, 2025.

Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts are putting up numbers to rival offenses led by some of the best quarterbacks to play the game including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner.

Geno Smith and the Las Vegas Raiders are going in the opposite direction, putting up a performance last week so futile that it drew comparisons to an expansion team.

In a season that has been filled with surprises, the divergent performances from the Colts and Raiders have been rather unexpected.

The Colts had been mostly a middle-of-the-pack offense for the decade-plus since Manning starred in Indianapolis and the addition of Jones as a free agent wasn’t expected to change that.

The former first-round pick had been cut by the New York Giants last season and had never been part of an elite offense. But the Colts are doing that now, leading the NFL with 33.1 points per game and averaging a staggering 3.46 yards per drive. That number is on pace to be the best as far as records at Sportradar go back to 2000, with the previous highs through seven games being held by the 2007 Patriots with Brady and Randy Moss (3.35) and the 2000 Rams (3.31) led by Warner and the “Greatest Show on Turf.”

Jones is the third QB since 1950 to post a passer rating of 100 or higher in six of his first seven starts with a franchise with Sam Darnold doing it last season in Minnesota and Ryan Tannehill in 2019 for Tennessee.

He’s getting plenty of help from the NFL’s leading rusher, Jonathan Taylor, who has run for 697 yards and 10 TDs. Taylor has three TD runs three times already this season, matching the most games with at least three touchdown runs since LaDainian Tomlinson did it five times in 2006 during an MVP season.

Indianapolis’ 16 rushing touchdowns are one shy of the most through seven games in the Super Bowl era, trailing only Kansas City in 2004 and Miami in 1975.

The Raiders were on the other side of the equation in a 31-0 loss to Kansas City. They gained only 95 yards, generated three first downs and ran only 30 offensive plays in the entire game with lows that are rarely reached by NFL teams.

The last time any team had as few as three first downs for an entire game came in 2008 when the Raiders also did it on Nov. 2 against Atlanta with JaMarcus Russell at quarterback. The last time a team had fewer came when Cleveland had two against Jacksonville on Dec. 3, 2000.

The only time in the Super Bowl era when a team ran fewer plays than the Raiders had against the Chiefs came in the first game for the expansion Browns in 1999 when they had 28 in a 43-0 loss to Pittsburgh.

The Chiefs had 30 first downs in the game, marking the third time in the Super Bowl era that one team had at least 30 and another had three or fewer.

The others were the Raiders loss to the Falcons in 2008 and the Browns to the Steelers in 1999.

The game was so lopsided that the Chiefs offense gained 100 yards on the opening drive — thanks in part to a holding penalty that moved Kansas City back 10 yards — compared to the 95 for the entire game for Las Vegas.

The win gave Andy Reid his first shutout in 427 regular-season games as a head coach, although he did have one against Houston in the 2015 wild-card round. The previous low in points allowed by a Reid-coached team in the regular season was 2 in his first game as Kansas City coach when Jacksonville’s only points came on a blocked punt for a safety.

Rodgers tries to complete the 32-team win club

After 18 seasons in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers gets the chance to play the Packers for the first time this week and join an exclusive club if he can lead Pittsburgh to the win.

The 41-year-old Rodgers can become the fifth quarterback ever to win starts against all 32 teams, joining Brady, Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre.

The only teams that haven’t beaten Rodgers in a start are Green Bay, Cleveland, Baltimore and the Raiders.

Old man Flacco

Rodgers isn’t the only 40-something quarterback with some success this season as he was beaten last week by 40-year Joe Flacco in the fourth matchup between starting QBs in their 40s.

Flacco had some notable accomplishments in Cincinnati’s 33-31 win, throwing for 342 yards and three TDs with no interceptions in his second game with the Bengals.

Flacco became the sixth QB age 40 or older to throw for at least 340 yards in a game with Brady doing it 25 times, Brees and Brett Favre three each, and Warren Moon and Vinny Testaverde each doing it once.

Flacco became the first player in NFL history to have at least 300 yards passing, three TDs and no interceptions for four teams, having previously done it for Baltimore, the New York Jets and Indianapolis.

Flacco became the ninth quarterback to win starts with two teams in the same season, having also led Cleveland to a win over Green Bay in Week 3.

Long range kicks

The run of long kicks is showing now signs of slowing down in the first year of changes in the preparation of kicking balls.

Lucas Havrisik kicked a franchise-record 61-yard field goal for Green Bay on Sunday and Brandon Aubrey made a 61-yarder for Dallas against Washington, marking the first time two field goals of at least 60 yards were made on the same day in NFL history.

There have been six made field goals from at least 60 yards already this season, topping the previous record of five from 2022 and ’23. Aubrey has made two of them, including a 64-yarder against the Giants in Week 2 to give him an NFL record five for his career.

There have been 35 field goals made from at least 55 yards this season, which is already the fourth most ever in a season and nine ahead of the record-setting pace last season when 26 were made in the first seven weeks.

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Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Josh Dubow, The Associated Press

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