The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Washington Commanders 30-13 in front of an official attendance of 60.907 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, on Sunday afternoon.
In the opening NFL London game of 2026, the Colts and Commanders met in the 13th NFL regular season fixture the White Hart Lane venue has hosted.
Commanders take early lead
The Commanders, the designated home side for the fixture, dominated the opening quarter. They led 6-0 by its conclusion, thanks to two successful field goal kicks from Drew Stevens.
The kicker put his side into an early lead with three points from 31 yards inside the opening three minutes of the game. A second three-pointer, this time from 29 yards, gave his side a comfortable advantage.
Taylor TD for Colts
Much of the Colts’ play, both in the first quarte, and through the earlier stages of the second, was characterised by their inability to successfully complete passes.
They finally got on the scoreboard, however, with 3:23 to play in the second quarter. A five-yard run from Jonathan Taylor, at the end of a 5 minutes and 7 seconds drive, saw the running back touch down for the Colts.
Colts on the board in London 🙌 https://t.co/NOoxaNGoGg
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) October 4, 2026
Second TD of the game for Taylor
A successful kick from Spencer Shrader put the Colts into the lead for the first time in the game, with a narrow 7-6 advantage. Shrader kicked a 48-yard field goal in the dying seconds of the first half, to increase his side’s lead to 10-6 at the interval.
Jonathan Taylor doubled his number of touchdowns for the afternoon with an early third quarter score. Another five-yard run-in pushed the Colts further ahead, before Shrader succeeded in adding the extra point for a 17-6 lead for the Indianapolis outfit.
Jonathan Taylor with his 2nd TD of the game 🔥(via @Colts) https://t.co/3NufUEo7Mi
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) October 4, 2026
47-yard pass to Burks
With 2:06 to play in the third quarter, wide receiver Treylon Burks was on the receiving end of a 47-yard pass from replacement rookie quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to get the Commanders’ first score since late in the opening quarter.
Athan Kaliakmanis goes DEEP for a beauty of a touchdown!
@INDvsWAS on NFL Network
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/JXB6CmxI9w— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2026
With the game seemingly slipping away from the Washington side prior to that, Stevens added the extra score to leave his side 13-17 behind.
Successful Shrader kicks
Spencer Shrader soon kicked his second field goal of the game, with 3:36 remaining on the third-quarter clock. From 52 yards, his longest kick of the afternoon, he gave his team a seven-point advantage.
The Commanders soon thought they had closed the gap when a short pass from Kaliakmanis to Antonio Williams saw the wide receiver charge down the touchline to reach the endzone. With a flag on the play, the touchdown was nullified due to an illegal shift, leaving the score 20-13 in favour of the Colts at the end of the third quarter.
The Colts’ quarterback put his side double-scores ahead when he ran in for a four-yard touchdown early in the final quarter. With Shrader maintaining his 100% kicking performance in the game, Indianapolis were on their way to victory, with just over 11 minutes to play. Another field goal from Shrader, from 44 yards, was the icing on the cake for Shane Steichen’s side, as they ran out 30-13 victors.
This afternoon’s game was the Colts fourth international fixture since 2005 and moved their record to three wins from four, with the Commanders still looking for a first international game victory.
Reaction
Commenting on his side’s London defeat, Washington Commanders’ Head Coach Dan Quinn told assembled media:
“I loved the way the defence started, created some takeaways, but to only get field goals out of those, I thought those were ones that we needed to nail, certainly that.
“Our team is really tough, and I told them tonight, like, man, we are the ones that are built for this type of adversity, and we’re back to the division game, and we’re going to do all we can to get ourself ready. We’ve got a 70-man roster, and we’ll lean into that as we find out more about some of the guys on injuries and also some returning from injuries.”
The Colts’ kicker, Spencer Shrader, whose successful kicks had an influence on the outcome of the game, admitted:
“My gosh, just feel so blessed in both of those experiences to get to come over here (to London). The whole trip has been amazing. We’re so well taken care of. Our staff does an incredible job. This has definitely been one of the coolest adventures in my life, especially with it being a victory makes it so much better. We’re looking forward to the plane flight back but what an incredible adventure. Everyone here has been amazing.”
Explaining what he tells himself before kicking, Shrader said:
“The same three things every time: tempo, eyes down, follow through straight. It’s really simple. That’s the weirdest thing for me. Coming from soccer, I played attacking midfield so you’re engaged in the game the whole time for 90 minutes and it’s a creation game. Nothing is the same. It’s a free-flowing game, you’re creating, attacking, defending so you can really get in the groove of the game.
“Kicking is not like that. They stop the game, you go out there and you have to do your thing, your routine. It’s mentally exhausting. I was telling myself the same thing for four hours during the game, because I don’t even know when my opportunities are going to come.”
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