One of the Indianapolis Colts' biggest Christmas wishes didn't come true so what has to happen now
Things have been going along swimmingly for the Indianapolis Colts. Since their devastating loss in Week 15 to the Denver Broncos, multiple game results have gone how they needed them to. On Christmas Day, though, things didn't go as planned. The Colts needed the Kansas City Chiefs to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers to ensure that […]
Things have been going along swimmingly for the Indianapolis Colts. Since their devastating loss in Week 15 to the Denver Broncos, multiple game results have gone how they needed them to.
On Christmas Day, though, things didn't go as planned. The Colts needed the Kansas City Chiefs to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers to ensure that they would not clinch the first-round bye before their Week 18 matchup with the Broncos. Patrick Mahomes and company had other plans, though.
This result doesn't knock the Colts out of the playoffs just yet, but it sure makes things more complicated. For the Colts to punch their ticket to the playoffs, they must first win their final two games vs. the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars. As well as the Broncos losing their final two vs. the Cincinnati Bengals and the Chiefs and at least one of the Bengals or Miami Dolphins to win out.
If this happens, the Colts would be in a three or possibly four-way tie with a 9-8 record and would hold the best record vs. AFC opponents and earn the final wildcard spot. Now that the Chiefs have clinched the bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, they don't really have much to play for in Week 18. So, the question now is whether or not they will play notable starters against the Broncos.
If they elect to play their backups, a familiar face would be under center for the Chiefs, with former Colts starter Carson Wentz now being Mahomes' backup in Kansas City. Wentz knows a thing or two about the Colts playoff hopes falling on his shoulders during the season's final week. Last time, the Colts were in a win-and-get-in situation during the final week of the year, with the team matched up with an at-the-time two-win Jaguars team. It was a game in which Wentz and the Colts would fall on their face, lose 26 to 11, and, as a result, miss the playoffs. Now, in Week 18, we just might have a situation where the Colts need to beat a Jaguars team that currently has three wins on the year (one against the Colts) and Wentz to knock off the Broncos. It all almost seems poetic if you ask me.
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