Indianapolis long snapper Luke Rhodes is quietly preparing for practice at his locker. As one of the five players with the most years on the Colts, Rhodes knows he’s going to be asked about the team’s struggle with season openers.
With his eighth NFL season about to begin, Rhodes is facing a question that has puzzled everyone: When will the Colts finally win a season opener?
“Of course it’s frustrating,” he said, talking about the NFL’s longest current opening-day winless streak of 10 games. “I mean, as a competitor, you want to win, and starting the season off with a win is huge and it’s something we haven’t had for a little while.
Especially being at home because we’re super focused on winning at home this year.” The situation seems hard to explain.
No other NFL team has a longer opening-day losing streak than three years, and the Colts have experienced every type of game, from big losses to narrow defeats and even a 20-20 tie against Houston in 2022.
Some of the quarterbacks involved in these games were well-known, like Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers, and Matt Ryan, while others, like Scott Tolzien, are less remembered. Luck was part of three of those losses, and Jacoby Brissett, New England’s new starter, lost twice.
How long has it been since Indianapolis won their first game of the season?
Andrew Luck was in his second year in the NFL at that time. He retired five years ago, and no player from that game on September 8, 2013, is still on the Colts’ roster. In that game, Luck scored a 19-yard run with 5:20 left, giving the Colts a 21-17 lead over the Raiders, who were still based in Oakland.
Since then, it’s been a series of losses, except for that tie. But with Anthony Richardson set to be the first Colts quarterback in eight years to start consecutive Week 1 games, there might be a chance for change.
Just don’t bring it up at Colts headquarters.
“Obviously, a big divisional opener and I’m not going to talk about, you know, opening day wins and stuff like that,” owner Jim Irsay said in July. “Obviously, we’re hungry to get our opening game as a victory, no questions about that. So couldn’t be more excited.”
A win on Sunday against the visiting Texans would mean more than just ending The Streak. Indianapolis hasn’t had a winning record against division rivals since their last playoff appearance in 2020.
When these teams last faced each other at Lucas Oil Stadium in January, the Texans won 23-19 and took the AFC South title, leaving the Colts out of the playoffs for the third year in a row.
“Just looking for a chance to right a wrong, you know what I mean?” linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “Obviously, the Week 18 game, it was tough. It was something to deal with. Had to grow through it, learn through it.”
Each season brings back reminders of past losses. Former Colts star Peyton Manning started The Streak when he led Denver to a 31-24 win in 2014.
Two years later, the Colts came back from an 18-point deficit against Detroit and took a 35-34 lead when Luck connected with Jack Doyle for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 37 seconds left, only to watch the Lions score twice more — on Matt Prater’s go-ahead field goal and a safety on the final play.
The Colts lost twice in three years at Los Angeles, first to the Rams when Luck was injured and then to the Chargers after Luck’s surprise retirement.
In 2020, Rivers lost his first game with the Colts at Jacksonville, though the team eventually made the playoffs. Then there was the tie in 2022 and last year, in coach Shane Steichen’s first game, the Colts lost again to Jacksonville at home.
“I think every year — gosh, yeah, you want to hit the ground running Week 1. I mean you’re trying to win every game, and the urgency definitely has got to be there,” Steichen said.
“We know it’s a big game. It’s a division opponent right off the bat at home, and we’ve got to start fast. We’ve got to get off to a fast start this year. That’s the goal every year.”
The question is, can they solve the problem on Sunday?
“We’ve put a lot of talk into protecting Lucas Oil this year, being able to do it against a division opponent is, it’s awesome,” Rhodes said.
