As teams prepare for the 2023 NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts have something in common with the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders.
Recently, the hosts of Good Morning Football separated all 16 AFC teams into four categories. The categories were big dogs (sure-fire contenders), hovering (fringe contenders), to be determined (teams with big question marks), and shock the world (teams that it would be a surprise if they were good or won their division in 2023).
Of course, no team wants to be in the shock the world category, unfortunately, four teams were voted in. The four teams were the Indianapolis Colts, the Houston Texans, the Denver Broncos, and the Las Vegas Raiders. The Good Morning Football table wasn’t particularly high on these four franchises.
While the Colts, Broncos, and Raiders all have being in the same category in common, they also have something else in common going into 2023. Last season, all three teams had huge expectations but they ended up having terrible seasons. Now, each team is working to bounce back and outperform their current low expectations.
Colts, Raiders, and Broncos all looking to have bounce-back seasons
After the 2021 season, it seemed like Indianapolis, Denver, and Las Vegas were all just a couple of pieces away from being serious contenders. With that looking like the case, each team aggressively attacked last offseason. The Colts added guys like Matt Ryan, Stephon Gilmore and Yannick Ngakoue, the Broncos traded for Russell Wilson, and the Raiders traded for Davante Adams.
This led to several analysts and experts characterizing these teams as contenders and teams to watch. However, reality quickly sat in for each squad as they had abysmal seasons. The Colts were 4-12-1, the Broncos were 5-12, and the Raiders were 6-11.
Now, no one is being fooled by these teams. Even though changes have been made, and each team still has a lot of talent, expectations will remain low until they prove to be actual contenders. That’s what they’ll set out to do during the 2023 season.