The Indianapolis Colts are pretenders
The Indianapolis Colts are 10-4, AFC South champions for a second consecutive year, and have one of the top-five quarterbacks in the NFL. They are also fraudulent contenders.
Indianapolis is one of those teams everybody thinks of as a darkhorse contender. The Colts are a team with plenty of flash and sizzle, led by the big-armed Andrew Luck and a point-a-minute offense. T.Y. Hilton has emerged as a legitimate star receiver, amassing 1,345 yards to rank fourth in the NFL. Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen give Luck one of the best tight end combinations in the game, and Chuck Pagano is a respectable coach.
So what is the problem? A horrific defense against quality.
On the surface, the defense does not seem all that bad. After ranking 20th last season in total defense, allowing 357.1 yards per game, the unit has improved to 15th while surrendering six less yards/game. The Colts have done this without their best defensive player in Robert Mathis, who was initially suspended for the first four games after violating the league’s performance enhancing drug policy, then tore his Achilles tendon.
However, the defense has struggled with any kind of real offense. The Pittsburgh Steelers hung 51 points on the Colts back in October. The Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles put up 31 and 30 points respectively against Indianapolis, while the New England Patriots scored 42 at Lucas Oil Stadium in November. In January, the Colts are going to run into some elite teams with top-tier quarterbacks, a few of whom already pasted Indianapolis. It’s going to prove too large a task to overcome.
Looking closer, Indianapolis has struggled to beat anybody of note, sans two wins against the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens. How many teams have the Colts beaten that possess a top-ten offense? One. The 10th-ranked Ravens. The highest-ranked defense that the Colts slayed? Baltimore, checking in 13th. Vegas has the Colts at 22/1 odds to win the Super Bowl in February, sixth-best among the 32 teams. Want to make a wise financial decision this holiday season? Bet elsewhere.
Indianapolis has beaten up on horrific quarterbacks all season. The Colts have beaten Blake Bortles, Chad Henne, Charlie Whitehurst, Tom Savage, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, Andy Dalton, Kirk Cousins, Eli Manning and Joe Flacco. Not exactly a list of Hall of Famers we will be telling our grandchildren about.
Nobody would argue that the Broncos and Patriots are the class of the AFC, with a handful of teams in the argument for third-best. Indianapolis is in the running along with Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Diego Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs. While the argument could be made for the Colts being tops in this group, that doesn’t make them any more of a contender. Indianapolis could win a Wild Card game, but the ride will stop there.
If the Colts plan on making the Luck years a successful endeavor, they need to use their cap space (projected at $32.3 million, via Over The Cap) to build a better defense.
