Since the start of the Super Bowl era, exactly one team has made it through the first two games of an NFL season without punting once.
That team’s quarterback? Daniel Jones.
Indeed, the man known as Danny Dimes is cashing in on his first opportunity as an NFL starter since his midseason release by the Giants last fall, leading the Indianapolis Colts to a surprising 2-0 start.
Through two games, Jones leads the NFL in yards per pass attempt (9.3) and ranks second in passing yards (588) and sixth in quarterback rating (111.1).
He’s thrown two touchdown passes without an interception and has already rushed for three touchdowns as well.
It’s a far cry from the 2023-24 seasons, when Jones led the Giants to a 3-13 record as a starter and totaled 10 touchdown passes against 13 interceptions.
“I don’t know how much time I’ve spent comparing it to times in the past or different situations I’ve been in, but I feel confident, and there’s a great energy about our team, about our offense, about our group,” Jones said after Sunday’s 29-28 win over the Denver Broncos. “I think we’re executing at a high level.”
The Giants released Jones, the No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft, last November, ending a six-season tenure in which he went 24-44-1 as a starter and made only one trip to the playoffs.
His release came in the second season of a front-loaded four-year, $160 million contract.
Jones, 28, spent the remainder of last season with the Minnesota Vikings but did not appear in a game, then signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Colts during the offseason.
He beat out 23-year-old Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft, for the Colts’ starting quarterback job — a decision by head coach Shane Steichen that drew the ire of many Indianapolis fans who were hopeful about Richardson’s potential.
But Jones is making Steichen look like a genius now.
The Colts are the first team in NFL history to score on each of their first 10 possessions of a season. They have scored on 11 possessions overall, and none of their 14 have ended with a punt.
Jones delivered a three-touchdown debut in Week 1 against a Miami Dolphins team with a defense that is not expected to be very good.
But he opened more eyes on Sunday by putting up 29 points — including a game-winning field goal drive aided by a Broncos penalty — against a dominant Denver defense that ranked third in points allowed (18.3) last year.
“It does a lot for our confidence, for sure,” Jones said of beating Denver. “I think we’ve had that, internally as a group. I think we felt throughout training camp, through last week, the beginning of the season, that we’re a good offense, can play with anybody. We’ve got to keep building on it.”
Jones showed flashes as a passer and runner during his time with the Giants, particularly during the 2022 season — his first under head coach Brian Daboll — when he led them to a road victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the playoffs.
But more often, turnovers and inconsistency plagued Jones’ tenure, as did a series of injuries, including two to his neck, along with an ACL tear in 2023.
Jones played with a star running back in Saquon Barkley for his first five seasons with the Giants, and he had then-rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers to throw to last year.
But Jones never had a full complement of weapons with the Giants like he does now in Indy.
Jonathan Taylor, a onetime All-Pro running back, leads the NFL with 236 rushing yards. Rookie tight end Tyler Warren looks the part of a first-round pick. Michael Pittman, Alec Pierce and Josh Downs are established NFL receivers, while Adonai Mitchell was a recent second-round selection.
Jones also has a head coach in Steichen who helped develop Justin Herbert as the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator in 2020 and Jalen Hurts as the Philadelphia Eagles’ OC from 2021-23.
“I think the guys have taken to him,” Steichen said of Jones in August when he named him the Colts’ starter. “He’s a great communicator with the guys. You can see that veteran presence out there.”
The only quarterback with more passing yards this season is Jones’ Giants replacement, Russell Wilson, who has thrown for 618. But the Giants are 0-2 for the 10th time in 13 seasons, while the Colts are 2-0 for the first time since 2009.
Jones could become the latest ex-New York quarterback to find success elsewhere.
Former Jets second-round pick Geno Smith enjoyed a career resurgence with the Seattle Seahawks and is now the starter for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Sam Darnold, a former No. 3 overall pick by the Jets, delivered a career-best season with the 14-3 Minnesota Vikings last year, then signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with Seattle in the offseason.
And while he said it’s still early, Jones acknowledged that it’s “maybe a little bit” rewarding to be proving his doubters wrong.
“You try to block it out. You don’t seek it out, but you know what people are saying and you know what the narrative is in a lot of situations,” Jones said Sunday.
“I’ve played a few years now, and one game, two games don’t make a season. It’s a long, long season, and you’ve got to be able to sustain that.”
