Honeymoon Is Over for Hot Former Minnesota Viking
Once-upon-a-time Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daniel Jones helped the Indianapolis Colts achieve a 3-0 record out the gate in 2025, but his nifty luck ran out in Week 4, as Jones and the Colts lost to the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 27-20.
Daniel Jones came crashing back to earth in Week 4, as the ex-Minnesota Vikings quarterback’s team snapped its undefeated streak on Sunday.
Jones has played so well to start the season that he began to nibble at Top 12 MVP odds. With the loss to the Rams, though, the upstart honeymoon is over.
Hot ex-Minnesota Vikings Passer Daniel Jones Loses 1st Game with Colts
Indianapolis was destined to lose eventually, and Los Angeles obliged.
Colts Finally Lose; Daniel Jones Looks More Like “Daniel Jones”
While the game was competitive, the Colts finally found the short end of the stick in Los Angeles. Rams wideout Tutu Atwell took a pass from Matthew Stafford 88 yards for paydirt, putting a bow on a Week 4 win and ending the Colts’ win streak.
Jones didn’t play terribly, accounting for 262 passing yards and a touchdown, but his 2 interceptions and 1 fumble put a damper on an otherwise spotless start to 2025.
Indianapolis will stick with Jones beyond the shadow of a doubt. For a day, however, Jones looked more like himself from the New York Giants days and not Josh Allen, whom he had basically copied per performance in Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
A Hot Start before Week 4
Prior to Week 4, Jones had turned heads like none other. To the point above, he performed like Coca-Cola to Josh Allen’s Pepsi. No exaggeration.
His Colts owned a blemish-free 3-0 record after three weeks, with Jones posting 816 passing yards, 6 total touchdowns, and no interceptions or fumbles. The man played mistake-less football, moved the chains, and guided the ship to three victories.
Even after the Week 4 loss, Jones ranks seventh in the NFL per EPA+CPOE, an efficiency stat that measures wins added per passer.
The Chances to Rebound
What’s next for Jones? The unabashed honeymoon may have hit the pause button, but he’ll have a chance to rebound Sunday.
Indianapolis will host the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals in Weeks 5 and 6 — also known as winnable games. The Raiders’ defense gave Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears some hardships last weekend, but on the whole, the Raiders and Cardinals are beatable.
The next two games will become a test of Jones’ consistency and sustainability. Will he play like Week 1-3 Jones — or the guy who created 2 picks and a fumble against the Rams?
Protect the Comp Pick
Mandatory tidbit for all Vikings-themed articles about Jones: Minnesota needs Jones to play 60.6% of offensive snaps this season. If he clears that threshold, the purple team will likely receive a 4th-Round compensatory draft pick for Jones’ free-agent departure.
If Jones gets hurt or benched, slipping beneath the 60.6% cut-off, the Vikings would probably be stuck with a 5th-Rounder. In draft speak, there’s quite a difference between a 4th- and 5th-Rounder. Fans expect some 4th-Round picks to develop into long-term commodities. Fifth-rounders are lottery tickets across the board.
Colts-Themed Media on Jones’ Week 4
Horseshoe Heroes‘ Lee Vowell sized up Jones’ outing at the Rams: “Jones also made two costly errors himself. One was in the first half when he underthrew a somewhat open (you guessed it) Adonai Mitchell, and the Rams intercepted the ball. The decision to throw the ball deep wasn’t an awful one, but the execution was.”
“There is a reason Danny Dimes has a reputation for not taking chances. He isn’t overly good when he does. Mitchell had a chance at an explosive play had Jones put the ball where it needed to be, but he didn’t. The second interception was far worse. Indianapolis had the ball with 55 seconds left, trailing by a touchdown, but with timeouts left. Daniel Jones ended any hope, however, when he dropped back to pass and tried to hit receiver Michael Pittman on the sidelines about 20 yards down the field.”
The Colts’ passing offense ranks No. 1 in the NFL per DVOA after four games. Impressive.
“The problem was that Pittman was double-covered and never open. Jones took a risk he shouldn’t have. This is something that he has done in his NFL career, and one reason he was let go by the New York Giants after nearly six seasons. Maybe the season will play out differently, but when the Indianapolis Colts needed Daniel Jones the most, he could not come through,” Vowell added.
“He is a better QB than he was with New York, but probably just good enough to keep the Colts from reaching the best version of themselves.”
Indianapolis is an early 6.5-point favorite to take down Las Vegas this weekend. The Raiders came somewhat close to knocking off the Bears, a Vikings rival, on Sunday, but Chicago prevailed with late-game heroics and now has the same record as the Vikings: 2-2.
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