It is crunch time for the Colts.
For those of you who have been reading my columns here at HuddleUK, you might be excused for thinking I am just copy and pasting the same opening sentence week after week.
That is mainly because I have been saying every week that this weekend is a huge game for the Indianapolis Colts. This weekend is no exception, really.
Coming off their bye week, the Colts face an AFC playoff shootout with the Denver Broncos. Currently, Indy occupy the eighth seed, one place back from the postseason positions.
The team they play against, the Broncos, currently hold that final coveted spot in seventh place. They are also two games ahead of Indianapolis, boasting an impressive 8-5 record on the season.
So it becomes a must-win for the Colts. Defeat will see them drop to 6-8 on the season, and a crack at the postseason will be all but gone for another year. That may lead to a lot of difficult questions internally.
At the beginning of the year, it was not unrealistic to expect a run at the playoffs for coach Shane Steichen and his team.
The roster may not have a whole host of household names, but believe me, it is a roster that should be good enough to make the postseason.
Disappointment, if not disaster
It would be a disappointment, if not a full blown disaster, should the Colts miss out. However, that would make it four years since Indy were last in the post season. And if results go a certain way this weekend, not only would a wildcard playoff spot be all but gone, but the Houston Texans could also secure the division.
Grumbling from fans will start to get louder. Remember – Indianapolis are the only team in the AFC South to have won a Super Bowl. There are still high expectations from within Colts nation.
By this stage of the season you know what kind of team you have. So far, Indy have shown they are a team capable of winning when they should, and maybe not being quite good enough to compete with the elite teams in the NFL.
They are currently 1-6 against teams with a winning record this year. The one defeat against a team with a losing record came in Jacksonville, but the Colts never win there anyway. We may as well just start next year 0-1 and not bother playing that particular game. But I digress…
While the overriding team target should have been a crack at the postseason, equally important for this year was to see some development from quarterback Anthony Richardson. Especially after his rookie year was cut short.
Heading into the final four games of this year – minus a slight but well documented hiccup – Richardson has probably done enough to ensure he will be back next year.
For the rest of the team and staff, the next four games will go a long way to deciding who we will see at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2025.
