Colts enter critical stretch
By ADAM RIPBERGER
ISL Contributor
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts entered their bye week with a record of 4-2 while holding onto a slim lead for the 7th and final playoff spot in the AFC. The Colts have played decent football up to this point, but there is still plenty of room for improvement in the coming weeks. They’ve managed to escape a COVID outbreak and have been able to play every game on schedule and not have to shift any games or move their bye week to accommodate any issues.
The Colts were able to get some much-needed rest this past week and hopefully get some key players back healthy when they resume play in Week 8. Key players like Darius Leonard, Mo-Allie Cox, and Anthony Castonzo have missed games the past few weeks, and they will be major additions once they return.
Things are about to get tougher from here. Indianapolis will have a very challenging schedule coming out of the bye and they will want to be as healthy as they can for those crucial games. Sunday’s game is against a Detroit Lions team that cannot be taken lightly. They can score some points if you don’t get pressure the quarterback and force them to get rid of the ball. The Colts defense has struggled the past couple weeks giving up over 25 points in back to back games to the Browns and Bengals, after being the top defense in nearly every statistical category the first 4 weeks of the season. The defense is still playing at a high level, but they need a big game against the Lions to take a little pressure off the offense and get back on track.
After a week 8 game at Detroit, the Colts next four games will be the toughest stretch of the season and will show a lot about this Colts team going forward. Weeks 9-12 will consist of games against the Ravens, Packers, and Titans twice in a span of 4 weeks. The Ravens and Packers games will be at home, while the two games with Tennessee could decide who will win the AFC South.
What’s at stake?
The Colts need to beat Detroit, and hope for a 2-2 record in the following four games. If they go 2-3 in these games, they’ll still have a shot at the playoffs- but the AFC is pretty loaded this season- going 3-2 would put them in much better shape. Green Bay and Baltimore have two of the best quarterbacks in the game and have been two top 5 teams most of the season. Along with those games, two games mixed in against the division leading Titans won’t make things any easier, but the Colts can really make a statement in these next 4-5 weeks and show either why or why not they should be in the playoff conversation. If the Colts are able to play mistake free football and provide some big plays on offense, they can win a lot of these games and boost their confidence going forward. A lot of fans will be watching these games closely and most fans probably think the fate of the 2020 Colts will rest with these games and whether their team will be playing playoff football in January or whether the Colts will be left with more questions then answers going into the off-season.
