For Sauce Gardner, the timing of the Colts’ first victory of the campaign could hardly have been more important. Indianapolis beat the Houston Texans 19-17 in Week Three, ending a 651-day wait for a win in the United States and clearing away a storyline that had followed Gardner since his last U.S. victory on December 15, 2024, when he was still with the New York Jets.
That mattered because the Colts now head into this week’s first NFL London game of the season with a cleaner sense of momentum. They will face the Washington Commanders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2026, and the setting gives this matchup an added layer. Gardner, who joined the Indianapolis Colts in November 2025, said he was glad to finally win in the United States and described London as a special place for him.
His comments made the contrast feel sharp. On one hand, there was the relief of avoiding the uncomfortable scenario he described to Josh Downs: losing in the States and then heading overseas with the burden of a split that would have felt even heavier. On the other hand, there was the opportunity that international football still gives him, especially in London, where he called the crowd electric and the experience special.
That is the tension at the heart of the Colts’ early-season story. The team has already shown it can survive a close game, and Gardner has already shown that the international stage still matters to him. The question now is whether that first win can become a launch point rather than just a release valve.
Raimann’s London connection adds another layer
Bernhard Raimann brings his own angle to the trip. In 2013, he attended an NFL game at Wembley Stadium as a teenage fan, long before he returned as a player. He said that back then he had just started playing football, was traveling with the club team he was on and thought the players on the field looked like superheroes.
That memory gives the Colts’ London appearance a useful sense of perspective. For some players, international games are a change of scenery. For others, they are a full-circle moment. Raimann’s comments suggest this is one of those occasions where the stage means something beyond the standings.
And that is what makes NFL London different when it works best. The games are still about results, of course, but they also expose something about the people inside them: who is relieved, who is energized, and who still sees the setting as special. For Gardner, the United States drought is over. For the Colts, the next step comes in London.
