Would Indianapolis Colts fans be surprised if the team didn't make the playoffs again in 2026 but general manager Chris Ballard kept his job? That might be a reality if two analysts from the NFL's official website are correct. The coming season will be a difficult one to watch.
Ali Bhanpuri and Tom Blair of NFL.com have little faith in Indy. Forget what the team looked like at the beginning of the 2025 season when quarterback Daniel Jones and his teammates started 7-1 before injuries hit and the wheels fell off. At least, that is what Blair and Bhanpuri want you to think.
In an article predicting each game for each NFL team, the analysts have Indy going on multiple losing streaks with a beginning and end to the season that is horrid. Will Indianapolis make the postseason? No, and they won't come close, they say.
Indianapolis Colts projected to be as bad as 4-13 in the 2026 season
Blair has the Colts beginning 1-7 before losing their final five games on their way to a 4-13 season. What's odd is that even with all the Colts' injuries last season, the team still finished 8-9.
Bhanpuri is only slightly more optimistic. He has Indianapolis starting 2-6 and winning one of its final five contests. How does 6-11 sound? Not great.
The issue is that national pundits appear to be forgetting that while the Colts weren't as good as they showed in the first half of last year, by the time Daniel Jones tore his Achilles tendon in Week 14, the team had also missed cornerback Mooney Ward and defensive lineman DeForest Buckner for long stretches of time, and the recently added Sauce Gardner was dealing with calf issues.
Sure, the competition got much tougher in the second half of the season, so even if the Indianapolis Colts had stayed healthy, they were likely to regress some against better teams. But regress so much that they would have gone 4-13 over a full season? That's a stretch.
The Colts have talent, and while the AFC South has two very good teams in the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans, with the Tennessee Titans likely improving, too, Indy's roster is such that it can compete with anyone. A winning record and a playoff spot for the first time since 2020 is a real possibility.
If the team is in the midst of a 4-13 season, though, both Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen should be out of their jobs before the season is done. A complete rebuild would be needed.
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