The Indianapolis Colts enter their bye week with a strong 8-2 record and are likely going to win the AFC South this year, but Jacksonville and Houston are absolutely lurking, so this is the time for Indy to really buckle down and close the door on the division title, at least.
It's been a great start to the season for Indy. Daniel Jones has largely played well this year, and running back Jonathan Taylor is an MVP candidate. The Colts are also fielding a strong defense overall and really don't have many holes to speak of.
Well, they were surely hoping that the Jets and Chiefs were able to beat the Patriots and Broncos this weekend, but the complete opposite happened, proving that the race for the first overall seed in the AFC is simply going to be a bloodbath.
The Colts might have the best of the three teams, but things aren't going to be easy for the top seed
Here is how things look for the Colts after the bye, and it's not going to be easy:
Week 12 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Week 13 vs. Houston Texans
Week 14 @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 15 @ Seattle Seahawks
Week 16 vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 17 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 18 @ Houston Texans
To be frank, this is a bloodbath for the Colts. They still have four divisional games left, and both Jacksonville and Houston are fielding some nasty defenses. The Chiefs haven't been very good this year, but they typically find a way to win when they need to, and the NFC West might just be the best division in football.
I do not want to think that the sky is falling here, but with how brutally tough this schedule is, coupled with how iffy Daniel Jones looked the past two games, you have to wonder if Indy is going to regress a bit. And with the Patriots and Broncos both having much easier schedules to end the year, the Colts' chances at the first overall seed in the AFC may already be gone.
This might be an overreaction, but could the AFC South title be in jeopardy for Indy? Only time will tell, but thankfully, the Colts are able to run the ball well, and that could be a deciding factor in some of these games. With the Broncos and Patriots winning in Week 11, things are only going to get tougher.