Colts vs. Commanders: Three must-know storylines for NFL Week 4 London game

The European leg of the NFL's 2026 world tour kicks off this weekend in the league's most familiar foreign locale.

After stops in Oceania and South America, London is the setting for Sunday morning football for the next three weeks, starting with this week's Colts-Commanders clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Two of the NFL's older franchises, Indianapolis (1953) and Washington (1932) are no strangers to the new reality of annual international football. In fact, both teams broke ground last season on the European continent. The Colts played in (and won) the NFL's first-ever game played in Berlin, while the Commanders participated in (but lost) the league's first game in Spain, played at Madrid's Bernabéu.

Both Indy and D.C. got off the schneid last week, improving to 1-2 with surprising victories over 2025 playoff teams. This Sunday, Washington will look to break another ignominious streak, winning its first international game in four tries. The Commanders are the only NFL franchise to play in at least three international games and not have a win (0-2-1).

Can the capital's club capitalize on its first win of the season with another in England, or will Jonathan Taylor and Co. run over the competition overseas yet again?

Three must-know storylines

1) Can Taylor finally break out of early-season slump?

Jonathan Taylor is, as Reggie Jackson once coined himself, the straw that stirs the drink. He makes Indy's offense go and has done so for the past six seasons. This year, he's tied for the league lead in rushing attempts through three games (66), but he's off to a career-worst start in terms of efficiency.

Taylor is averaging fewer than 4 rushing yards per attempt and has yet to record 100 ground yards in a game this season. Plus, he's coming off the worst of his three efforts, a 68-yard, TD-less game in Week 3's slim win over Houston. Standing in his way in Week 4: a Washington unit that has been surprisingly stout in run defense, allowing just 246 yards through three weeks (third in NFL) at 3.8 yards per carry. The Commanders are tops in the league in run stuff percentage (25%) and have allowed just five runs of 10-plus yards (tied for third), per Next Gen Stats.

Taylor was a horse in the Colts' international outing last season, posting 244 rushing yards and 286 yards from scrimmage (both international records, per NFL Research) in Indy's overtime victory over Atlanta at Olympiastadion. With 78 rushing yards against Washington, Taylor will be the all-time leading rusher in international games in NFL history. 

As Daniel Jones works his way back into form and the Colts deal with health issues for wideouts Alec Pierce, Keenan Allen and Ashton Dulin, Taylor needs to bring that horsepower again, or Indy won't be able to keep pace with Jacksonville in the AFC South.

2) Commanders sans starting QB in Europe ... again

Washington is playing its second international game in as many years without its star quarterback under center.

After Jayden Daniels missed last year's Madrid game with a dislocated elbow, the NFL scheduled the Commanders for a Week 4 international bout. Surely, the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year would be healthy for that lone-window slot! 

Nope.

Daniels was ruled out for the second straight game on Friday after dislocating the same left elbow in Week 2. The Commanders QB has foregone surgery and a stint on injured reserve and was limited in practices this week in London. Washington coach Dan Quinn said Daniels' return to practice was a "big step." That'll be little solace to the English fans who were eager to get a glimpse of the star signal-caller in action on Sunday.

Lucky for Washington, it has an ace second-stringer in fellow former No. 2 pick Marcus Mariota. The Flyin' Hawaiian arrived in the United Kingdom on a high this week after posting a throwback performance in the Commanders' Week 3 upset of the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks. Last Sunday, Mariota enjoyed his first three-TD, zero-INT, 110.0-plus passer rating game since Week 8 of 2022 and salted away the victory with a clutch read-option run. It was vintage stuff.

Will it translate to Week 4 against a league-worst Colts defense (417.3 total yards per game allowed), albeit one that shut down Houston last week?

Or will a second consecutive game without Daniels lead to another international defeat with Mariota under center?

3) Can receivers take advantage of struggling DBs?

In a matchup featuring two down defenses, it's paramount for each offense to identify areas of vulnerability to attack. Those soft spots lie in the secondaries of both Ds, meaning the offenses will aim to exploit advantages with their receivers.

The Colts will be looking to new WR1 Josh Downs, who took up the mantle left by the injured Alec Pierce and departed Michael Pittman. Downs has averaged a team-high 2.4 yards per route on a 32.8% target rate in Weeks 2 and 3 -- while the Colts have mostly been without Pierce -- and ranks 15th among qualified receivers in receiving expected points added (+12.6), just below Justin Jefferson, per Next Gen Stats. Indy will hope to get him in positions against Mike Sainristil, who has allowed a league-high five touchdowns and a 142.4 passer rating when targeted through three weeks. His defensive back mates, Jeremy Reaves (154.6 rating, +42.8% CROE) and Quan Martin (+28% CROE), have fared no better, opening up opportunities for Keenan Allen (barring a groin issue keeping him out) and tight end Tyler Warren.

Meanwhile, Washington will look to exploit Justin Walley in the slot. The Colts primary nickelback has allowed 13 receptions on 15 targets for 213 yards and two TDs in the slot, the most yards allowed by any defender and 84 more than the next-closest CB. Opponents have recorded a perfect 158.3 passer rating when targeting Walley in those matchups, per Next Gen Stats. That could spell a big day for the Commanders' top three receivers: two-time Pro Bowler Terry McLaurin, who's looking for his first 100-yard game in 2026 but is questionable with a balky hamstring; rookie Antonio Williams, who boasts a team-high +27.2%  CROE and +8.7 receiving EPA when targeted in the slot; and veteran Stefon Diggs, who has run a team-high 44 routes out of the slot this season.