The Indianapolis Colts play the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3 and many are expecting Indy to lose. However, it may be a bad idea to sleep on Indy.
Entering this NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts were expected to be one of the top contenders in the league. While that’s still possible, the way Indy has started the season has cast doubt on that possibility. The Colts had a draw with the Houston Texans in Week 1 and were flat-out embarrassed in Week 2, losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-0. Now, things are about to go to another level.
The Colts return to Indianapolis for their home opener and they’ll be welcoming the Kansas City Chiefs into Lucas Oil Stadium for Week 3. Kansas City has been one of the league’s best teams for the last few seasons and they’re currently 2-0 and averaging 35.5 points a game. As a result, people are already joking about how ugly the Chiefs are about to beat Indy.
However, it may be a mistake to count Indy out of this game. While all evidence points to Kansas City destroying the Colts, sports aren’t always logical. Indianapolis proved this last year. During the 2021 season, Indy often played much better against quality NFL teams than it did against the league’s worst squads.
Colts rise to the challenge against good teams
Indianapolis finished last year with a 9-8 record and was one win away from going to the playoffs. However, their record wasn’t a case of beating bad teams and losing to good teams, it was almost the opposite. The 2021 Colts had a 4-3 record against teams below 500 and a 5-5 record against teams above 500.
Indianapolis struggled with inferior opponents but found ways to dominate against top teams. Even in the games Indy lost against teams over 500, they still looked like a better team than the Indy squad that showed up for sub-500 teams.
In the seven games against teams with a losing record, the Colts averaged 26 points but they also averaged 26 points against teams with winning records. However, an interesting difference was the average margin of defeat.
In the three games Indy lost to sub-500 teams, it was by an average of 11 points. But, in the five games Indianapolis lost to teams with a winning record, it was by an average of five points. In other words, when the Colts played bad teams, they would either win or lose badly but when they played good teams they would either win or lose a very tight contest.
All that is to show that Indianapolis isn’t always the same team against quality opponents that they are against bad teams, for whatever reason it may be. It could be a psychological or discipline thing where the Colts prepare harder and focus more against teams they believe will be a challenge while approaching inferior opponents with a lackadaisical mindset. Shaquille Leonard and other members of the organization did reveal that to be a problem last season.
So could the Chiefs come to Indianapolis and blow the Colts out? Absolutely. Indy has some real problem areas that can be exploited. However, don’t be shocked if the Colts pull off the upset and they look more like the team that everyone expected them to be in the preseason because they have shown that they can rise to the occasion when they’re counted out.
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