1. Get off to a hot start
In order for the Colts to truly succeed next season, they’ll have to do something they haven’t done in over 10 years: get off to a fast start. With matchups against the Jaguars, Vikings, Jets, and Bears to start the season, the Colts need to win at least three of these games, if not all of them. With an incredibly daunting midseason stretch where the team plays 5 playoff teams from Weeks 9-13.
In Weeks 1-8, they face only one team that had a winning record last season (the Vikings in Week 2). It’s expected that they’ll win at least 5 games of those 8. However, they need to live up to those expectations.
The Colts need to take advantage on offense, as a majority of the teams they face in those first eight weeks had run defenses in the top half of the NFL in 2019 but struggled against the pass at times, and have lost key pieces in their secondaries.
It’ll be perfect for new Rivers, Pitman, and Taylor to get comfortable with the offense while they face teams with less than stellar defenses (only Jets and Bears had top-10 defenses last year). If they can get off to a hot start in the first 8 weeks, it’ll be much easier for the team to finish out the more difficult second half of the season and will give them a leg up in the division right out of the gate.