Forget, if you will, the Week 1 return of quarterback Daniel Jones. He is working his way back from tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 14 last season, and chances are iffy that he will be back for the Indianapolis Colts at the start of the season. Odds are even worse that Indy will win any games in almost the first third of the season.
That's if you believe a recent article by the Indianapolis Star, who based on the betting site, BetOnline.ag. That site has Indianapolis being underdogs in the first five games, and then the two games after Week 6. That means a 1-7 start is expected for the Colts.
If one is placing a bet (and that's completely up to you, dear reader), then one who follows Indianapolis closely might believe it's safer to take a chance on the team not beginning 1-7, and instead maybe something closer to 4-3 or 3-4, at worst.
Oddsmakers seem to hate the Indianapolis Colts
Of course, betting sites don't play real football games. Players do that, and have direct control over wins and losses. What many seem to forget is that, if healthy, the Colts are capable of being a very good team. The secondary was a shell of itself at the end of last season, but could be elite next season.
Cornerbacks Charvarius Ward and Sauce Gardner missed multiple games with injuries. Should they be able to stay on the field, that is one of the best CB duos in the NFL. Rookie linebacker CJ Allen is going to make some mistakes, of course, but his athleticism and ability in pass coverage are far better than those of former starters Zaire Franklin and Germaine Pratt.
Defensive lineman DeForest Buckner is expected to return from a neck injury originally suffered in Week 9 last season. He played in only one more game after that.
That is all a long way of saying the Indianapolis Colts will have a lot of talent returning that wasn't available for most of the brutal stretch at the end of last year. This logically leads one to believe that the team is capable of a faster start to next season than many are expecting them to have.
While betting sites and national pundits might be looking at how Indy ended last season and think that will roll over to 2026, they also might not be looking at the reasons for such an awful finish. The roster has talent; tight end Tyler Warren could make a second-year leap, and the defense should be much better. The team could make the playoffs, no matter what others outside of Indy believe.
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