The Denver Broncos will have their hands full with an exotic Indianapolis Colts defense in their Week 2 contest. The Lou Anarumo-led defense stifled the Miami Dolphins in the season opener and let the rest of the NFL know that they are a unit that needs to be talked about, and Broncos head coach Sean Payton knows that his offense will have its hands full.
The Colts held the Dolphins to just eight points last week while forcing three turnovers and recording three sacks. They threw a wide variety of blitz packages at Miami and head coach Mike McDaniel — who many consider to be one of the more talented offensive minds around the league — and had them confused and out of sorts all afternoon. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished the game with just a 51.7 passer rating and an astonishing quarterback rating of just 3.8.
Anarumo was deep in his bag of tricks as the defensive play caller.
Lou Anarumo put Tua through the torture chamber in his Colts debut https://t.co/cPp6wxUs7C pic.twitter.com/gz8hRCea0h
— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) September 9, 2025
Now, Anarumo is turning his attention to Payton and a Broncos offense that struggled in the Week 1 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Bo nix turned the ball over three times and averaged just 4.4 yards per attempt as Denver failed to find consistency on that side of the ball throughout the entire game.
Payton had high praise for the Colts defense when he spoke to the media after Friday’s practice, the last practice before Sunday’s contest for the orange and blue. Payton emphasized how the defense will always be able to rush one more defender than the Broncos will have in pass protection, and have a specialty of crowding the line of scrimmage and sending the house on key downs.
“They give you a lot… [Anarumo]’s not afraid to play [cover] zero in critical moments,” Payton said.
Despite the challenges that the Colts have caused for Payton during his film studies this week, he feels confident in what he and his fellow coaches have come up with this week to outsmart the Colts.
“It took awhile, but we feel like we have a good plan.”
The Colts will bring a lot of different looks to Sunday’s game, especially up front in an effort to confuse Nix before the snap. While that will pose challenges, the Colts are hurting in the secondary, as the injury bug has gotten to the team and has two of their key cornerbacks out for Sunday’s game, something that could set Nix up for a big day if the protection holds. Payton and the staff has their eyes on those injuries and are looking to test the backups early on Sunday.
“We pay attention to all of that…,” Payton said. “If a player is down for any team… in those early series, you’re seeing, ‘Alright, who’s taking over the role and where’s he going to be at.'”
When this game popped up on the schedule for the Broncos back in the spring, many might have looked over it at first glance. Week 1 showed that the Colts are no joke of an opponent, and potentially a team that can compete for a playoff spot in the AFC when the winter comes. Anarumo put the league on notice, and Payton knows that he and his offense are up for an immense challenge on Sunday.