{"id":334409,"date":"2025-12-07T04:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T04:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334409\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T04:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T04:42:07","slug":"after-hot-start-colts-could-miss-the-playoffs-altogether","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334409\/","title":{"rendered":"After hot start, Colts could miss the playoffs altogether"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Colts ripped through the first eight games of the season, winning seven times. A 1-3 slide since then has raised a troubling question.<\/p>\n

Could they miss the playoffs?<\/p>\n

Indeed they could. Now 8-4 and tied with the Jaguars atop the AFC South, the Colts could easily lose both the division title and one of the three-wild card spots.<\/p>\n

And the stretch run is a gauntlet. After Sunday\u2019s visit to Jacksonville, where Indy hasn\u2019t won since 2014<\/a>, the Colts finish with the Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars, and Texans. <\/p>\n

Via NBC Sports research, the Colts could be the sixth team since the AFL-NFL merger to start 7-1 or better and miss the playoffs. The others were the 2012 Bears, Washington in 1996, the 1988 Saints, the 1987 Chargers, and the 1975 Dolphins.<\/p>\n

The Colts would be the first team to start 7-1 or better and fall out of playoff contention with seven spots available in each conference.<\/p>\n

One issue has been the performance of quarterback Daniel Jones away from Indianapolis. At home, he\u2019s 5-1 with 15 total touchdowns and one turnover. One the road, the Colts are 3-3 \u2014 and Jones has nine total touchdowns and nine turnovers.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the fracture in Jones\u2019s leg. It made him one-dimensional against the Texans in Indianapolis last week, in a game that the Colts nevertheless could have won.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, weather will be an issue<\/a>. But that will be true for both teams. Whatever the elements, the Colts need to find a way to win in a place where they haven\u2019t in 11 years. <\/p>\n

If they don\u2019t, a season of apparent resurgence could end like every other season since 2021 \u2014 without a playoff appearance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Colts ripped through the first eight games of the season, winning seven times. A 1-3 slide since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-334409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}