The Indianapolis Colts had to have been looking forward to the fact that this will be their first full season with Sauce Gardner.
After the blockbuster trade with the New York Jets a year ago, having Gardner for a full schedule is one of the reasons that this Colts team deservedly entered the season with plenty of optimism.
For Indianapolis, though, Week 1 didn’t go as planned.
It wasn’t Gardner’s fault that the Colts lost 41-23 to the Ravens, though. When you look into the numbers, there were actually a couple really fascinating pieces to Sauce’s performance.
Sauce Gardner Career-High Change
The first thing to note about Sauce on Sunday is that he played man-to-man coverage at a higher rate than he ever had in his career.
According to On SI’s Noah Compton, Gardner was in man on 67.7% of Baltimore pass plays, just more than two-thirds.
In those spots, Gardner gave up just one catch, a 12-yarder to Zay Flowers.
#Colts CB Sauce Gardner played man coverage on 67.7% of pass plays against the Ravens, the highest rate in a game of his career, per @NextGenStats.
Gardner was targeted twice in man coverage and gave up just one reception for 12 yards to WR Zay Flowers.
— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) September 14, 2026
Colts fans are frustrated that Gardner didn’t guard Flowers the whole game, though. Flowers ended up with 150 yards just in the first half before leaving the game with an injury.
It’s a fair thought, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Colts let Gardner do more shadowing as the season goes along.
But on Sunday, Gardner handled the assignments that he was given quite well.
It’s interesting even that Gardner’s man-to-man rate was this high at a time when much of the NFL really embraces zone corners. With someone like Sauce, he can be an exception.
Compared to Rest of NFL
Gardner was hardly thrown at, as mentioned above that just two targets came his way on Sunday.
That worked out to a 6.5% target rate in Gardner’s time at cornerback against the Ravens, which was just more than half the league average, Compton shared:
#Colts CB Sauce Gardner was thrown at just twice all game. His 6.5% target rate is five points below the league average (11.7%) among the same group of defenders.
I think it’s safe to say Gardner remains a bonafide CB1. He essentially erases one side of the field. https://t.co/XGdM6ugFJ1
— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) September 14, 2026
The Colts clearly can count on Gardner to do his job on one side of the field. That doesn’t solve the rest of the defense, but if utilized correctly, it should allow things to be a bit more effective on the other side, too.
It’ll be important right away in Week 2, too, because the Colts take on the high-powered Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
Colts Make Sauce Gardner Change to Find Great News