Playoffs? Playoffs? You kidding me… wait, well maybe not…
After their recent harrowing gauntlet of games, the Indianapolis Colts have a rather favorable slate of opponents to close out the 2024 regular season—if they can actually take full advantage of it down the final stretch.
As former Colts All-Pro punter, now turned major national ESPN media personality Pat McAfee continues to spin it regarding the Shoe, sitting at 5-7, “it’s still all in front of them.”
Despite sitting at the AFC’s #9 playoff spot, now on the outside, looking in, and no longer in the driver’s seat regarding controlling their own destiny (with just a 23% chance to make the playoffs via ESPN), the Colts final stretch run allows them to make up some solid ground here.
After a recent 5-game stretch that included @HOU (7-5), @MIN (9-2), BUF (9-2), NYJ (3-8) [the lone outlier, which the Colts actually won as their sole victory during that span], and DET (10-1), there appear to be much easier days ahead for Indianapolis to finish up 2024.
Specifically, the Colts have: @NE (3-9), BYE, @DEN (7-5) [*presumably a must-win game for the playoffs], TEN (3-8), @NYG (2-9), and JAX (2-9) on the docket coming up to close out the 2024 campaign—which are all NFL bottom feeders, with the exception of the playoff hopeful Broncos, who figure to remain among Indy’s top competition for the AFC’s final postseason berth.
Now, as the Colts have shown this year, no NFL game is very easy, and while the Colts will likely be favored in the vast majority of these weekly matchups, nothing is a given.
In fact, far from it with this year’s Colts squad being rather underwhelming and enigmatic.
Down the final stretch run, the Colts still have to seize the opportunity, properly execute, and take advantage of it all to sneak into that final AFC playoff spot. We’ll see what happens.
