With the loss on Thursday to the Texans, the Colts now need a lot of help to make the playoffs. They need some upsets to happen in the last few weeks.
The Colts have been on a slide recently, losing three of their last four games. Because of that, they now are on the outside looking in regarding the playoff race. They now sit at 6-4 and are now currently the 8th seed, which is not a seed at all.
They obviously sit behind Houston in the divisional standings, but they also sit behind Pittsburgh and Oakland for the 6th seed. The 5th seed is held by Buffalo, who is 8-3. Even though they have a tough schedule moving forward, they are unlikely to relinquish that spot.
Looking at the remaining schedules, the Colts have the toughest schedule remaining of those three other teams. They still have to play Jacksonville, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Carolina. All are tough teams, and only Jacksonville and Tampa have losing records.
Pittsburgh on the other hand gets to play the Browns, Cardinals, Ravens, Jets, and Bills. Only two of those teams have winning records. Also the Colts don’t have the tiebreaker over them either by virtue of their loss to them a couple of weeks ago.
Oakland plays the Chiefs, Jacksonville, Tennessee, the Chargers, and the Broncos. Honestly, it might be better if Oakland wins the AFC West and force Kansas City to fight for a wild card spot. The Colts hold the tiebreaker over them and not Oakland.
Houston plays Tennessee twice, Denver, Tampa, and New England. The problem is the Colts are down a game to them, but neither team holds a head-to-head tiebreaker. This still might be the easiest way for the Colts to make the playoffs; winning the division.
Bottom line is the Colts need to win games. Everything else will take care of itself.