While the 2023 schedule hasn’t been revealed yet, the list of opponents for the Indianapolis Colts shows that they’ll be a part of a revenge game.
The 2023 NFL season is a ways away. Free agency has only been going on for a couple of weeks, and the 2023 NFL Draft is still roughly a month away. However, it’s never too early to look ahead at some of the storylines that will be a topic next season. That’s what Adam Rank did in a recent article for NFL.com.
Rank decided to take a look at some of the best revenge games that will take place next season. Although the official schedule hasn’t been released, teams do know their opponents, so it’s easy to see which games will be big ones. One of the nine revenge games that Rank listed was the Carolina Panthers vs. the Indianapolis Colts. The revenge factor is, of course, Carolina’s head coach Frank Reich facing off against the team that fired him a season prior.
Colts vs. Panthers named a top revenge game of 2023
Rank called it “insulting” that Reich was “held accountable for quarterbacks who were past their primes.” Adam Rank also said the fact that Indy immediately replaced Reich with Jeff Saturday just made the situation even worse. Now, Reich will have the opportunity to lead his new team to a victory over his old team.
Frank Reich doesn’t really seem like a vengeful guy, and he has already stated that he’ll always have love for the Colts and will continue to pull for the players, however, it’ll probably feel especially good for Reich to get a win over Indy. Though, he may not be as emotional about it as Nick Sirianni was when he and the Philadelphia Eagles defeated Indy in honor of Frank Reich.
While this matchup is months out, the Panthers and Colts have already been competing. They’ve been competing for top quarterback prospects. Carolina won the bidding war for the No. 1 overall pick, so the Panthers will be able to pick whatever QB they want in the draft. Indianapolis will just have to sit at No. 4 and hope Carolina, or the Houston Texans, don’t select the quarterback that Indy wants.
Ultimately, the 2023 matchup will be as much about revenge as it will be about the matchup between two highly-drafted rookie quarterbacks.