The Indianapolis Colts played the most high-scoring playoff game of the previous NFL season. They got lucky, to be honest, that the Kansas City Chiefs saw so many of their players go down to injury in the middle and later portions of that AFC wild card contest. A week after surviving the Chiefs thanks to the injury bug suffered by Kansas City, the Colts were ripped apart by the New England Patriots. It’s clear that the Colts have to prove that they can beat the Patriots and the Denver Broncos in the postseason. They haven’t done that under Andrew Luck and the new-look roster the team can lay claim to. Can the Colts take the next step and at least make the AFC Championship Game this season? That’s what people want to know.
Strengths
The Colts have a terrific offense, and you know where that comes from. Andrew Luck is poised to be a superstar in the NFL. He might not be a superstar already because he still commits a number of turnovers. He’s not as consistent as Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, and that’s one reason the Colts have not surpassed the Broncos and Patriots. However, Luck is still very young. His career is still developing. For all the mistakes he makes, he still shows you several times a game why he was a number one draft pick and such a hyped player coming out of college at Stanford. Luck has a great sense of the field and how plays develop. He has an outstanding feel for the pocket and is light on his feet. He’s deceptively, surprisingly fast, and can scramble for big plays in addition to merely avoiding pressure when he drops back. Luck does so much for this offense. He makes the team go.
Weaknesses
The Colts’ run defense is what failed them against New England in the playoffs last year. Indianapolis actually managed to do well against Denver in a regular season game. The Colts won that game with their pass defense, especially the physical play of their cornerbacks. However, Indianapolis couldn’t stuff the run up the middle against New England. It is the challenge of this team to get better at the defensive tackle spots, and to find better play from the linebackers as well. Indianapolis needs more toughness in the middle part of the field between the hashmarks. Without that new ingredient, this season is not going to be what the Colts want it to be.
Schedule
The Colts won their division, and when you win your division in the NFL, you must expect a tough slate the following season. The Colts have exactly that. They open at Denver and then host Philadelphia. They better split those two in order to feel good about themselves. Road trips to New York and Dallas could be easy, but they’re later in the season, so one doesn’t know how good the Giants and Cowboys will be when they finally do play the Colts. Indianapolis gets New England at home, but that’s going to be a difficult game, regardless of other circumstances. The Colts get the whole AFC North on their schedule. They should be able to win at least two if not three of those games.
Outlook
Being in the AFC South is such a huge plus for the Colts. You can identify tough games elsewhere on the schedule, but this team should go 5-1 in the South. If that happens, the team will hit the over on the 9.5 proposition setting.
Pick: Over 9.5
