Troy Aikman’s Colts praise on Thursday Night Football could scare Chiefs fans

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 15: Former professional football player and commentator Troy Aikman attends the 2017 FOX Upfront at Wollman Rink on May 15, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 15: Former professional football player and commentator Troy Aikman attends the 2017 FOX Upfront at Wollman Rink on May 15, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images) /
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FOX analyst Troy Aikman spoke highly of the Colts on Thursday Night Football.

After several weeks of flying under the radar, the Indianapolis Colts are finally starting to garner recognition as a legitimate playoff contender. While their herculean efforts might not be enough to nab a division crown, you can guarantee that no team will want to face them in the first round of the postseason.

After all, their offense has quietly been one of the most efficient in the NFL over the last six weeks, averaging 27.3 points per game during that span. The Colts’ defense has regressed to the mean after their dominant start to the campaign, but it still ranks near the top of the league in all the major categories.

How impressive is this balance on both sides of the ball? Well, let’s just say that it prompted FOX analyst Troy Aikman to give Indianapolis a special shoutout during the Thursday Night Football broadcast.

Some trolls on social media would like you to believe that Aikman giving the Colts major props boiled down to the fact that Philip Rivers’ former team (the Chargers) was playing on Thursday night, but it obviously had nothing to do with that.

Let’s not forget that the FOX crew called Indy’s thrilling overtime victory over Green Bay back in Week 11. Leading up to that game, everybody proclaimed their offense wouldn’t be able to keep up with Aaron Rodgers and Co. and all they did was silence their critics by hanging 34 points on the scoreboard.

Aikman normally takes a while to get to the point, so the fact that he was quick and efficient in declaring — on national television, no less — that the Colts are one of the teams capable of knocking off the Chiefs (!) in the playoffs really speaks to how much he believes in them.

This isn’t to say that Indy will upset Kansas City if they meet in the playoffs — it would likely have to be in the Divisional Round assuming the latter nabs the first-round bye — but it says a lot that Aikman went out of his way to highlight the Colts’ ascension to a place among the elite teams in the NFL.

It’s about time the rest of the country puts them in that category as well. Including pundits in the Kansas City area who haven’t been scared in a full calendar year.