{"id":341499,"date":"2025-09-04T17:18:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T17:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/341499\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T17:18:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T17:18:17","slug":"3-game-defining-matchups-to-watch-in-colts-vs-dolphins-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/341499\/","title":{"rendered":"3 game-defining matchups to watch in Colts vs. Dolphins Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Indianapolis Colts<\/a> will open up their 2025 regular season at home against the Miami Dolphins in what is a make-or-break year for the current iteration of this team.<\/p>\n

The Colts<\/a> will be looking to end a brutal Week 1 winless streak<\/a> that has now spanned the last 11 seasons.<\/p>\n

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In what is the ultimate team game, every matchup matters, but there are a few that can carry more weight in determining the outcome than others.<\/p>\n

Here are three of those matchups between these two teams to keep your eyes on.<\/p>\n

Dolphins DT Zach Sieler vs. Colts<\/a>‘ interior offensive line<\/p>\n

At left guard for the Colts will once again be Quenton Nelon. However, to Nelson’s right will be Tanor Bortolini at center and Matt Goncalves at right guard–two still relatively inexperienced players, operating as full-time starters for the first time in their careers.<\/p>\n

By all accounts, both players acclimated themselves well to those full-time roles over the summer. But even so, with relative inexperience comes unknowns. Bortolini is at a position where there is a lot on that player’s plate, both pre-snap and in the run game within Shane Steichen’s offense. Goncalves, meanwhile, is making a position change from tackle to guard.<\/p>\n

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Awaiting the Colts’ young interior linemen will be Zach Sieler, who recently signed a lucrative extension with Miami. Last season, Sieler was effective against both the run and pass, ranking 17th in pressures among his position group and 16th in run defense grade.<\/p>\n

One of the best ways for a defense to wreck any offensive play is with a quick push up the middle. When that’s happening, every other defender on the field benefits while the offense’s job gets a lot more difficult.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Taylor vs. Dolphins run defense<\/p>\n

As Shane Steichen said earlier this week, as Taylor goes, the Colts’ offense goes. We can focus on Daniel Jones and the passing game all we want, but without a steady run game to lean on, I’m not sure much else matters.<\/p>\n

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In addition to Taylor’s ability to generate a chunk play, when he’s rolling, he keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations, which then takes some of the playmaking burden off the quarterback and opens up opportunities through the air.<\/p>\n

For what it’s worth–it is a new year after all–the Dolphins’ defense did rank 12th<\/a> in yards per rush allowed last season.<\/p>\n

Colts’ run defense vs. De’Von Achane<\/p>\n

De’Von Achane brings home run ability to the Miami backfield, but slowing him and the other Dolphins’ running backs will impact the passing game as well.<\/p>\n

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At receiver, the Dolphins have a lot of speed between Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. As Adam Stites of Dolphins Wire<\/a> described, when opposing defenses have found success against the Miami offense, it’s started with stopping the run, which then allows the safeties and cornerbacks to protect against the big play by keeping everything in front of them.<\/p>\n

“The formula for defenses last year was pretty simple,” wrote Stites. “The Dolphins couldn’t run the ball effectively, so opposing safeties played deep and kept everything underneath. In 2023, Miami was No. 1 in the NFL in yards per rush attempt, so it was pick your poison. If the Dolphins are going to be successful again, the changes they made on the offensive line have to lead to more success on the ground.”<\/p>\n

The Colts’ run defense in 2024 was either boom or bust. To help foster improved play, GM Chris Ballard reshaped the defensive tackle depth, while Lou Anarumo’s more aggressive and movement-oriented scheme can hopefully provide a boost as well.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts vs. Dolphins: 3 game-defining matchups to watch in Week 1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Indianapolis Colts will open up their 2025 regular season at home against the Miami Dolphins in what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[2772,217,7,392,14706,1753,4977,216,251,2087,6,4975,2788,3235,1089,23816],"class_list":{"0":"post-341499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-daniel-jones","9":"tag-dolphins","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-jaylen-waddle","13":"tag-jonathan-taylor","14":"tag-matt-goncalves","15":"tag-miami","16":"tag-miami-dolphins","17":"tag-miamidolphins","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-shane-steichen","20":"tag-tanor-bortolini","21":"tag-the-dolphins","22":"tag-tyreek-hill","23":"tag-zach-sieler"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115147171687574488","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}