The Indianapolis Colts have embodied what it means to be a tale of two stories this season. They appeared to be among the shortlist Super Bowl LX contenders in the AFC up until late October. Then, everything came crashing down once the calendar flipped to November.
Surprisingly, Indianapolis came storming out of the gates and didn't seem like a club that was going to let go of the rope. They were historically dominant, specifically offensively, and had the makings of a juggernaut. Alas, as Colts fans learned the hard way, the football gods can taketh as easily as they giveth.
With their postseason hopes mathematically shattered, Colts Nation will look to put a once-promising campaign that unraveled into a year from hell behind them. However, the team's epic collapse has developed a stench that will be hard to remove. They officially entered rarefied air after the Houston Texans beat the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17 -- and not the good kind.
Colts' mystifying 2025 season makes the wrong type of NFL history
Houston's win against the Chargers put the Colts faithful out of their misery, or so they thought. Nevertheless, the result meant Indy accomplished a striking feat with their shortcomings in 2025, becoming the sixth squad to start 7-1 and miss the playoffs.
Per CBS 4/FOX 59's Mike Chappell, the 2012 Chicago Bears were the most recent members of the unfortunate list of misfits before the Colts joined. For additional context, they're the only teams that meet the criteria in this century; yeesh.
Joining this type of company suggests that the Colts' meltdown down the stretch will haunt them for the foreseeable future. We don't need to dive deeply into what has changed so drastically. Yet, there's no escaping from a lowlight that has ostensibly taken on a life of its own.
Of course, the Colts couldn't predict losing their starting quarterback, Daniel Jones, to a torn Achilles, though that's how the cookie crumbles. Football is a violent, physical sport, and injuries are unfortunately part of the game. But a pair of transactions centered around him, albeit in vastly different ways, further illustrate what's been an unforgettable year for the wrong reasons.
An all-time bad midseason downturn wasn't the only memento of the 2025 Colts. They acquired standout cornerback Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets in an all-in move for two first-round picks not long before Jones went down. Then, rather than going quietly into the night, Indy made the unconventional decision to lure 44-year-old signal-caller Philip Rivers out of retirement.