The Indianapolis Colts' 2025 season might be done, but that could be a good thing. The season didn't go as well as many had hoped after the team started 7-1. Maybe Indy fans just need a rest. Plus, there is always University of Indiana football still to watch.
But the Colts at least know who they will take on in 2026. After finishing third in the AFC South, Indy will play a third-place schedule next season. Indianapolis already knew it would play the teams from the AFC North and NFC East, as each AFC South team will do that based on the NFL's rotating schedule.
What Indianapolis wasn't completely sure of was which other third-place teams they would face. Those teams will be the Kansas City Chiefs, the Miami Dolphins, and the Minnesota Vikings.
Indianapolis Colts' opponents for 2026 are now set
Indianapolis will also, of course, play each team from its own division twice, as the team does every year. In other words, the schedule for next season doesn't look easy, but that is OK. To be fair, so much attrition happens to every team every offseason, and then as injuries hit, teams that might look great turn out to be not very good.
Sadly, the Indianapolis Colts lived a whole season of that this year. The team was brilliant, and then terrible. The Colts were the first team in the Super Bowl era to at one point in the season be six games over .500, only to finish with a losing record.
For the second straight season, the Colts finished 8-9. Much of that might be due to injuries, some of it simply because the schedule got a lot tougher, and the team's efficiency regressed as well. Hopefully, 2026 will be the first time that Indianapolis wins the AFC South in more than a decade.
Colts opponents at home for the 2026 season:
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Dallas Cowboys
- Houston Texans
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Miami Dolphins
- New York Giants
- Tennessee Titans
Colts road opponents for the 2026 season:
- Cleveland Browns
- Houston Texans
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Minnesota Vikings
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Tennessee Titans
- Washington Commanders