Our schedule the next 5 games....

[NewColtsFan]

....  is loaded.

 

Four of our next five opponents are currently undefeated.    Not a typo.

 

New England, Carolina, Denver and Atlanta have not lost a single game.

 

That's not to say that each will be undefeated when we eventually face them,  only that they've all started off really, really well and our games with them will not be easy.

 

Of those four games,  two are on the road, (Carolina and Atlanta) and two are at home (New England and Denver)     We've got our hands full.

 

The fifth game in the middle of all of that is New Orleans.   And with Payton as the head coach and Brees as the QB that's another game that won't be easy.

 

I hope we finish those 5 games at least 3-2 with a 6-4 record overall,  but would not be surprised if we go 2-3 and are 5-5 after 10 games.

 

If there's good news,  it's that our last 6 games is the easiest part of the schedule.   At least, at this point,  that's what it looks like.

 

One very hard game -- at Pittsburgh in early Dec.

 

The other five?   Tampa at home, J'Ville there, Houston at home,  at Miami and Tennessee at home.   Hopefully the Colts win 4-5 of those games.

 

Right now we feel very 9-7 or maybe 10-6 to me.    And I originally thought we'd go 12-4.   We'll still win the division,  but the playoffs look very iffy to me.......

 

That's my view from 2000 miles away on 10/10/15.     The view could change going forward......

[ThatOneColtFan]

Time to find out what we are really made of.

[DoubleE Colt]

No doubt a tough schedule but the panthers results haven't come against any real decent teams so far so I feel their standing is a little padded so far. Atlanta a bit more impressive with results against the eagles and cowboys (although neither of those two have looked as good as last year)

[Gavin]

I think 5-2 is a real possibility if Roethlisberger is still out at Pitt, I think Atlanta we end up losing to. I think we beat NE at home. New Orleans will be tough. Broncos I think we can beat at home. Like any game forcing turnovers is key and taking care of the ball

[AZColt11]

Are you kidding me?  With the start the Colts have had I'd be doing cartwheels (if I could actually do a cartwheel) if the Colts went 3-2 in that stretch.  They'd be sitting at 6-4 and would probably win out from there to finish 12-4 IMHO, and be no worse than #3 seed in the AFC. 

 

Not expecting it though.

[crazycolt1]

This is exactly why pre season predictions and rankings means zero. If my memory serves me before the season started the Colts were suppose to have a cup cake line up.

[krunk]

....  is loaded.

 

Four of our next five opponents are currently undefeated.    Not a typo.

 

New England, Carolina, Denver and Atlanta have not lost a single game.

 

That's not to say that each will be undefeated when we eventually face them,  only that they've all started off really, really well and our games with them will not be easy.

 

Of those four games,  two are on the road, (Carolina and Atlanta) and two are at home (New England and Denver)     We've got our hands full.

 

The fifth game in the middle of all of that is New Orleans.   And with Payton as the head coach and Brees as the QB that's another game that won't be easy.

 

I hope we finish those 5 games at least 3-2 with a 6-4 record overall,  but would not be surprised if we go 2-3 and are 5-5 after 10 games.

 

If there's good news,  it's that our last 6 games is the easiest part of the schedule.   At least, at this point,  that's what it looks like.

 

One very hard game -- at Pittsburgh in early Dec.

 

The other five?   Tampa at home, J'Ville there, Houston at home,  at Miami and Tennessee at home.   Hopefully the Colts win 4-5 of those games.

 

Right now we feel very 9-7 or maybe 10-6 to me.    And I originally thought we'd go 12-4.   We'll still win the division,  but the playoffs look very iffy to me.......

 

That's my view from 2000 miles away on 10/10/15.     The view could change going forward......

 

 

I'm not forecasting anything because I have a special feeling about the fight of this team. I think we'll come out of that thing in much better shape than it appears.  Especially with this team starting to find it's stride on offense we will be no easy team to deal with either so I'm just going to sit here with my bag of popcorn and my chicken wings and take it one game at a time. 

[ColtStronger]

I think this next game will tell us who we are, and have a pretty good indication what our record will be at the end of the season!  I think people freaked out way too much that we were 0-2.  I wasn't worried about that fact, more than the sloppy play of the OL, penalties, Luck's terrible decision making, and injuries.

 

We all pretty much expected the Colts to pull out the next 3 divisional games, which we took care of business, however, they came in ALOT closer fashion than we all had hoped.  Coming down to the final minutes against Jax and Tenn (looking like we would get stomped), I think something finally clicked, and the team said "hey, football season is here"!  A late start, but I believe they got it now.  We didn't beat the snot out of Houston, but they played a great game, and we played even better. 

 

More encouraging news:  We're starting to get healthy guys back.  Toler and Butler out was huge.  Davis with another 10 days rest should be somewhat back to normal aginst the Pats.  D'joun Smith isn't too far away.  Sio Moore and Nate Irving has been getting increased reps, while making big plays.  DQ is looking better than ever for our team.  It appears we have 2 very special safties, and another hybrid that I feel are extremely underratted/underappreciated!  On the offensive side of the ball Johnson has gotten into the mix, as it seems we have 4 WR's who can make a big play at anytime when we ask.  Don't forget about the TE's either, because if you do, that's when they'll get ya!  Most importantly Luck should be a green light for NE next Sunday, and we can only hope he has learned from his mistakes (holding onto the football too long, staying in the pocket too long, having better accuracy (not over/under throwing balls), and making better decisions.  Last but not least the OL looks like they're working MUCH better as a team.  One must give credit to the very difficult front 7's that we've faced starting out, and understand that's not the norm. 

 

Regardless of winning or losing (IMO) next Sunday will show us who the Colts are!  We will need a great gameplan, but even better execution.  If it's another 35+ margin of victory, I would understand all the doom and gloom, because whether or not some people say, it IS time to panic!  Not saying they wont make the playoffs, because I think they still will, but they would probably end up being a few games under .500 after this tough stretch.  Even if they lose and it's close I believe we have lots of hope!  If it comes down to a one possession game and we get the short end of the stick, that at least motivates the team, and tells them they're not far off, and it's time to move on, get better, because they're consecutive games to prove themselves.  Now if this team wins aginst the Patriots, then it definitely shows fans they kind of overreacted after losses to a good Bills and Jets team (defenses in particular, when we had too many offensive problems). 

 

We've had 3 emotional victories in a row, which brings the team closer, and motivates them to work harder!  Don't forget we lost the first 2 games last season against good teams, and still turned out fine.  If we have those most of these issues solved, I feel we still have a good chance to beat NE (somebody will knock them off their high horse).  If not the Cowboys this week, why not us?  I have a feeling Pagano, Pep, and Manusky will have some tricks up their sleeves, as the sneaky BB will have plenty in store for us!  I'm confident they won't be able to line up and run the ball down our throats, however I fear with the lack of pass rush it will be in the passing game.  My eyes are on Manusky to bring some exotic blitzes, getting to Brady early and often.  If that's the case, the game shall be particularly interesting!

 

For me, I will be on the Bud Light platform "Bringing the Noise"

[AZColt11]

I think this next game will tell us who we are, and have a pretty good indication what our record will be at the end of the season!  I think people freaked out way too much that we were 0-2.  I wasn't worried about that fact, more than the sloppy play of the OL, penalties, Luck's terrible decision making, and injuries.

 

We all pretty much expected the Colts to pull out the next 3 divisional games, which we took care of business, however, they came in ALOT closer fashion than we all had hoped.  Coming down to the final minutes against Jax and Tenn (looking like we would get stomped), I think something finally clicked, and the team said "hey, football season is here"!  A late start, but I believe they got it now.  We didn't beat the snot out of Houston, but they played a great game, and we played even better. 

 

More encouraging news:  We're starting to get healthy guys back.  Toler and Butler out was huge.  Davis with another 10 days rest should be somewhat back to normal aginst the Pats.  D'joun Smith isn't too far away.  Sio Moore and Nate Irving has been getting increased reps, while making big plays.  DQ is looking better than ever for our team.  It appears we have 2 very special safties, and another hybrid that I feel are extremely underratted/underappreciated!  On the offensive side of the ball Johnson has gotten into the mix, as it seems we have 4 WR's who can make a big play at anytime when we ask.  Don't forget about the TE's either, because if you do, that's when they'll get ya!  Most importantly Luck should be a green light for NE next Sunday, and we can only hope he has learned from his mistakes (holding onto the football too long, staying in the pocket too long, having better accuracy (not over/under throwing balls), and making better decisions.  Last but not least the OL looks like they're working MUCH better as a team.  One must give credit to the very difficult front 7's that we've faced starting out, and understand that's not the norm. 

 

Regardless of winning or losing (IMO) next Sunday will show us who the Colts are!  We will need a great gameplan, but even better execution.  If it's another 35+ margin of victory, I would understand all the doom and gloom, because whether or not some people say, it IS time to panic!  Not saying they wont make the playoffs, because I think they still will, but they would probably end up being a few games under .500 after this tough stretch.  Even if they lose and it's close I believe we have lots of hope!  If it comes down to a one possession game and we get the short end of the stick, that at least motivates the team, and tells them they're not far off, and it's time to move on, get better, because they're consecutive games to prove themselves.  Now if this team wins aginst the Patriots, then it definitely shows fans they kind of overreacted after losses to a good Bills and Jets team (defenses in particular, when we had too many offensive problems). 

 

We've had 3 emotional victories in a row, which brings the team closer, and motivates them to work harder!  Don't forget we lost the first 2 games last season against good teams, and still turned out fine.  If we have those most of these issues solved, I feel we still have a good chance to beat NE (somebody will knock them off their high horse).  If not the Cowboys this week, why not us?  I have a feeling Pagano, Pep, and Manusky will have some tricks up their sleeves, as the sneaky BB will have plenty in store for us!  I'm confident they won't be able to line up and run the ball down our throats, however I fear with the lack of pass rush it will be in the passing game.  My eyes are on Manusky to bring some exotic blitzes, getting to Brady early and often.  If that's the case, the game shall be particularly interesting!

 

For me, I will be on the Bud Light platform "Bringing the Noise"

I'll have what he's having!

[NewEra]

Time to see if the real Colts stand up. Let's just wipe those first two games from our memory and call it a bad experiment.

[throwing BBZ]

Having Andrew back for NE a good thing?
Not so fast Abernathy!

[snkdy]

So much for that SOS.

[Pelt]

New England, Carolina, Denver and Atlanta have not lost a single game.

Cool. Give each of these teams their first loss of the year.

[ColtsSouljah]

So much of this depends on Luck's health. Let's say Luck is 100% healthy by next weekend. I can totally seeing us going 4-1 that stretch and would be very disappointed with anything less than 3-2. If Luke is not healthy, well, that's a whole different story.

[ColtRider]

I think 5-2 is a real possibility if Roethlisberger is still out at Pitt, I think Atlanta we end up losing to. I think we beat NE at home. New Orleans will be tough. Broncos I think we can beat at home. Like any game forcing turnovers is key and taking care of the ball

Exactly, Gavin! With the exception of the Texans game (too many penalties, no turnovers) the Colts have not played the kind of fundamental football that this team is capable of. Limit our turnovers, penalties, and getting to the football with superior tackling, along with zooming and zeroing in on focused broken plays both offensively and defensively and this team can run deep into the season and Playoffs with numerous victories. That's just my take on it. Obviously, we need Andrew @ 100% to accomplish this. It can be done, make no mistake. It'll take a full team effort to make it happen.

[scooter4910]

I posted this on a different thread.....

 

Just thinking out loud about our next five opponents...

 

The Colts are 3-2 playing teams with a combined 8-12 (.400) record.

 

The Pats are 3-0 playing teams with a combined 5-7 (.417) record.

- Pats are perfect against teams superior to the Colts opponents - Win Pats

 

The Saints are 1-3 playing teams with a combined 10-6 (.625) record.

- They lost to the Bucs and their only win was against a Romo-less Cowboys - Win Colts

 

The Panthers are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 4-13 (.235) record.

- Even weaker then our schedule - Not impressed, win Colts

 

The Broncos are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 4-12 (.250) record.

- Another weak schedule and playing at LOS - We've done it before...win Colts

 

The Falcons are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 6-11 (.353) record.

- Perfect against comparable ranked opponents and in their house....but we're coming in after our bye week..tough call - Win Falcons.

 

I'd wager we would be 6-4 going into the end of our schedule.

[ColtRider]

I posted this on a different thread.....

 

Just thinking out loud about our next five opponents...

 

The Colts are 3-2 playing teams with a combined 8-12 (.400) record.

 

The Pats are 3-0 playing teams with a combined 5-7 (.417) record.

- Pats are perfect against teams superior to the Colts opponents - Win Pats

 

The Saints are 1-3 playing teams with a combined 10-6 (.625) record.

- They lost to the Bucs and their only win was against a Romo-less Cowboys - Win Colts

 

The Panthers are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 4-13 (.235) record.

- Even weaker then our schedule - Not impressed, win Colts

 

The Broncos are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 4-12 (.250) record.

- Another weak schedule and playing at LOS - We've done it before...win Colts

 

The Falcons are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 6-11 (.353) record.

- Perfect against comparable ranked opponents and in their house....but we're coming in after our bye week..tough call - Win Falcons.

 

I'd wager we would be 6-4 going into the end of our schedule.

Thanks for posting this, scooter4910. Very interesting. Who knows, it could possibly be a game more or less. That still keeps us in the hunt, and in all likelihood, winning the division. It's the Playoffs that count, anyway. Down the stretch runs (our last 6 games) could quite possibly give us another 11-5. We'll see. Good info, btw.

[Gyan Rrigson]

I posted this on a different thread.....

Just thinking out loud about our next five opponents...

The Colts are 3-2 playing teams with a combined 8-12 (.400) record.

The Pats are 3-0 playing teams with a combined 5-7 (.417) record.

- Pats are perfect against teams superior to the Colts opponents - Win Pats

The Saints are 1-3 playing teams with a combined 10-6 (.625) record.

- They lost to the Bucs and their only win was against a Romo-less Cowboys - Win Colts

The Panthers are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 4-13 (.235) record.

- Even weaker then our schedule - Not impressed, win Colts

The Broncos are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 4-12 (.250) record.

- Another weak schedule and playing at LOS - We've done it before...win Colts

The Falcons are 4-0 playing teams with a combined 6-11 (.353) record.

- Perfect against comparable ranked opponents and in their house....but we're coming in after our bye week..tough call - Win Falcons.

I'd wager we would be 6-4 going into the end of our schedule.

I saw this in the other thread and think you are spot on. And who knows what this team is capable of if the offense gels fully and the defense keeps up.

[scooter4910]

Thanks for posting this, scooter4910. Very interesting. Who knows, it could possibly be a game more or less. That still keeps us in the hunt, and in all likelihood, winning the division. It's the Playoffs that count, anyway. Down the stretch runs (our last 6 games) could quite possibly give us another 11-5. We'll see. Good info, btw.

If my guestimates hold out the only remaining team I would be worried about would be the Steelers on 6 Dec (if Ben plays). That would give us an 11-5 record.....11-5 who-da-thunk! I think we have seen that record a couple of times.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I cant see us doing any worse than 9-7 and that will win the Division anyway. We should sweep the Division and then get wins against the Saints, Bucs, and Dolphins. That is 9 right there. If we start playing like we are capable of and Andrew gets rolling, I could see us picking up 2 more wins possibly against the better teams. So 11-5 still isn't out of the question.

[GoColts8818]

Hard part of the schedule for sure, If the Colts go 2-3 in this stretch that's a win. The schedule after that is much lighter though.

[peytonmanning18]

Will we come out of the next four weeks with a win?

[IndyD4U]

Hard part of the schedule for sure, If the Colts go 2-3 in this stretch that's a win. The schedule after that is much lighter though.

Agreed. I'd be happy getting out of that stretch at 2-3

[AllYouNeedIsLuck]

Saints are somewhere in between the 4 teams but yeah I think we can beat the Pats or Broncos at home with Luck healthy and healed. Or the Panthers

[rock8591]

I'm calling 4-1 the next 5 games.

[Superman]

Will we come out of the next four weeks with a win?

 

Merged.

[oldunclemark]

The entire outlook on our season changes if we beat New England....

[James Harden]

I love how in the off season, people were saying the Colts had the easiest schedule out of everybody in the NFL. Now look at our schedule...facing four undefeated teams in a row and winning them all would be amazing. This is now a trial for the Colts to find their identity. This is how Champions are made. 

[oldunclemark]

Nobody thought Carolina would be 4-0....and the talk was that Peyton Manning was in an assisted living home

[MR. Blueblood]

The entire outlook on our season changes if we beat New England....

at this point with our recent history against NE, losing the game by less than 14pts could still be considered a victory....just of the moral kind lol.

[RomanianColtsFan]

I agree with scooter4910 above. My feeling is that Colts we'll lose to Patriots, Falcons and Steelers the rest of the season and finish 11-5.

[colts_100nascar17fan]

We should beat denver and new Orleans and carolina. New Orleans is just bad, Denver has a vanilla offense,Carolina only has cam and a "d".

[Jules]

Well, if we maintain our usual 11-5 streak and so far we are streaking since we continue to beat the AFC South with a slow start again to the season.......

 

Then......we only lose 3 more the rest of the year.

 

I think Atlanta/NE/Carolina are potential losses.

 

NE is the most likely of the 3 to be a loss for us based on history of course.

 

I think we usually struggle on MNF so we may have issues in Carolina but they are not a scoring machine either.

 

 

I say we split with Atlanta/Carolina. And neither of these teams is going 16-0 either so they have to lose a couple. Redskins took it to OT today in Atlanta, they are not unbeatable.

 

 

Oh and Denver I am confident we can beat at home too probably because again that is not a major scoring team this year. The D might get exposed.....soon........

 

 

 

I am not convinced yet this season that we don't finish 10 or 11 wins even if some are screaming it might be 8-8 or 9-7.

[mahagga73]

That schedule looked soft before the season too.

[Smash Mouth]

Nobody thought Carolina would be 4-0....and the talk was that Peyton Manning was in an assisted living home

Peyton is sitting on the front steps of the at home trying to catch his breath.  More INTs than TDs, no arm strength to speak of, but he is still so damn smart that he can think his way through games.

[krunk]

New England is the only somewhat iffy one to me but I think it's possible if we keep heading in the right direction offensively and get a few stops on the defense. The rest are pretty doable as long as we don't beat ourselves which is our main problem. We've got the personnel to match up with anyone.  I just watched the Atlanta game yesterday and they ain't that good.  Still somewhat of a transitioning defense that plays with good effort.  Offense is good, but becomes toothless when you take away Julio Jones.  Freeman is a pretty good back but our run is defense pretty good.   I noticed that they barely even use Tevin Coleman.  The Redskins gave them all that they could handle and honestly should have won that game.

[BullsColtsFan1]

The Colts year so far has obviosuly not been as expected.  With that being said, the Colts are 3-2 going into their tough stretch.  If they can win 2 or 3 of the 5 tough games, they should be looking at a 10-6 or 11-5 record.  (New England, Denver, @Carolina, Atlanta and @Pitt).  That's what I am hoping for. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

The Colts year so far has obviosuly not been as expected.  With that being said, the Colts are 3-2 going into their tough stretch.  If they can win 2 or 3 of the 5 tough games, they should be looking at a 10-6 or 11-5 record.  (New England, Denver, @Carolina, Atlanta and @Pitt).  That's what I am hoping for. 

I picked us to go 11-5 again at the beginning of the season but also had the Pats 11-5 LOL, didn't think they would be as good. I had the Broncos 12-4 getting the #1 Seed, I had us getting the #2 and the Pats #3. I didn't expect Cincy to be as good as they are either. As of now even if we go 9-7 we will win the Division and I will take that if we are healthy and playing great going into the Playoffs. Giants won it all being 9-7 one year. Luck is streaky.

[Surge89]

Well, if we maintain our usual 11-5 streak and so far we are streaking since we continue to beat the AFC South with a slow start again to the season.......

 

Then......we only lose 3 more the rest of the year.

 

I think Atlanta/NE/Carolina are potential losses.

 

NE is the most likely of the 3 to be a loss for us based on history of course.

 

I think we usually struggle on MNF so we may have issues in Carolina but they are not a scoring machine either.

 

 

I say we split with Atlanta/Carolina. And neither of these teams is going 16-0 either so they have to lose a couple. Redskins took it to OT today in Atlanta, they are not unbeatable.

 

 

Oh and Denver I am confident we can beat at home too probably because again that is not a major scoring team this year. The D might get exposed.....soon........

 

 

 

I am not convinced yet this season that we don't finish 10 or 11 wins even if some are screaming it might be 8-8 or 9-7.

 

While I don't agree that their defense will be "exposed" but I do think the Colts match up perfectly against the Broncos.  Our defense can really punish a Manning with no deep throw (man that pains me to say lol).

 

I also see us matching very well with Atlanta as they are being started and carried by Freeman, which just so happens to be a strength of ours this season (can't believe how happy I am to say that).

 

Carolina will be the on exposed soon as I don't think they can match us blow for blow.

 

Which of course brings us back to the Patriots.  If the offense plays to potential (mainly Luck) then we can beat them.  That defense has weaknesses in the secondary (they haven't faced a QB yet) and their offense has big issues if someone roughs the receivers at the point and makes them play deep. If we go into the game playing zone and cushion it will be a long day regardless of what Luck and the offense does. 

[BullsColtsFan1]

I picked us to go 11-5 again at the beginning of the season but also had the Pats 11-5 LOL, didn't think they would be as good. I had the Broncos 12-4 getting the #1 Seed, I had us getting the #2 and the Pats #3. I didn't expect Cincy to be as good as they are either. As of now even if we go 9-7 we will win the Division and I will take that if we are healthy and playing great going into the Playoffs. Giants won it all being 9-7 one year. Luck is streaky.

I agree 9-7 or even 8-8 may win the AFC South.  For as bad as the Colts have played they have a nice lead in the division now.  Hopefully they get to playing better football in December.  I am not as worried about Denver or Cincinatti.