Now We Go: It’s time the Colts win a game

The Indianapolis Colts are going to win a football game this week. 

Say it with me, “The Indianapolis Colts are going to win a football game this week.” 

It has been an absolute doomsday start to the season for Indianapolis, but they have this Kansas City Chiefs team and the sportsbooks right where they want them. 

Desperate for a win to get their season back on track after two awful games to start the year, the Colts are five-and-a-half point underdogs to a Chiefs team that I think is in the perfect spot for a letdown. 

Hand up, I wrote an article during the off-season stating why I thought the Chiefs would miss the playoffs this season, and I’m here after their 2-0 start, I’m starting to wonder if I might have gotten that one wrong… which would be a first.  

But, I managed to turn $20 into $2,400 on Thursday Night Football thanks to cashing a few Same Game Parlays, so maybe this is my week. 

The Indianapolis Colts are going to win a football game this week. 

Let’s dive into why. 

SEE THE TEAM THROUGH MY EYES 

I make it very well known, I’m a Colts fan. 

Growing up as a kid playing Madden, it’s safe to say I was drawn to playing with one of the best quarterbacks of all-time and took a liking to his team. 

The organization lost me for a few years when Jim Irsay was being a tad greasy, but when Andrew Luck retired, this franchise needed someone to save them and I have arrived to be that guy. 

As a fan of the team, the slow start doesn’t shock me at all. I’ve become numb to it. 

While opening up in Houston and then going to Jacksonville in Week 2 appeared to be a pair of easy wins to start the season, those two games were the perfect nightmare fuel for an organization that loves losing games to teams they should hammer, especially early in the season. 

SAME OL’ STORY 

It’s Week 1 of the NFL season, the Colts have a new quarterback and the offence is ready to reach new heights this season. 

And they lost.  

Quick, was I talking about the 2022 season, 2021, 2020 or 2019? 

Turns out I was talking about all of them! 

This marked the fourth-consecutive season that the quarterback starting Game 1 of the season wasn’t the quarterback from the previous year. 

It’s the same story every year and it keeps getting better. 

The Colts haven’t won a Week 1 game since 2013. 

For context, Reggie Wayne caught eight passes for 96 yards and a touchdown in that game as Indy beat Terrelle Pryor and his Las Vegas, wait scratch that… *Oakland* Raiders 21-17. 

Over those eight seasons, the Colts have gone 83-64-0 in non-Week 1 games, and that record gets even better when you eliminate their games against their Week 2 opponent.

JACKSONVILLE JUST LOVES BEATING THIS TEAM 

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been bad for years. 

They’ve finished above third in the division just once since 2015 with an overall record of 36-82. 

And yet, look at their record against the Colts over that same time span. 

Jacksonville has won nine of their last 15 games against the Colts. 

A stunning 60 per cent win percentage against Indy, compared to the 26 per cent against the rest of the league! 

Remarkable, truly insane. I just have no words to describe that. 

THE PERFECT STORM 

A team that never wins in Week 1 takes on a scrappy divisional team on the road to start the season. They never had a chance. 

Also, the Colts scored 14 points in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter in Week 1, and were a missed field goal away in overtime from escaping with a win.  

Then they go to Jacksonville – a place they have won once since 2014 – in Week 2 and catch another L. Never had a chance. 

Add in the fact they were without receivers Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce in Week 2 and you have the perfect storm. 

Early signs indicate that Pittman Jr. and Pierce are on track to play in Week 3 after returning to practice on Wednesday.

ISSUES ON THE O-LINE 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on how much this offensive line struggled in Week 2.  

Matt Ryan dropped back to throw 35 times on Sunday.

According to Pro Football Focus, he was pressured on 14 of those snaps, meaning that he was pressured on 40 per cent of his dropbacks.

But I trust this team to get the O-Line sorted out since they have maintained one of the better units in the league for years. 

Also, find me a pass rusher on the Kansas City Chiefs better, or as good as Josh Allen on Jacksonville, and now pair him with Travon Walker, the first overall pick in this year’s draft, and you have quite the D-Line developing.  

THE PERFECT LETDOWN SPOT 

The Kansas City Chiefs entered this season fielding a lot of questions about their offence. 

How would this team look without Tyreek Hill, everyone asked. 

People like myself wrote about them to miss the playoffs. And all they did to hush the naysayers was come out and throttle the Arizona Cardinals to open the season, and steal a win against the

Chargers in Week 2. 

In Week 2, I thought the Chiefs’ offence looked sluggish for most of the night. 

Patrick Mahomes made a few big plays, as he does, but something still seemed off.

And if it weren’t for a 99-yard interception, they probably lose that game as the offence accumulated just 20 points after looking like world-beaters the week before. 

Now, sitting at 2-0, let’s look at how the rest of their division is doing. 

Los Angeles’ season suddenly depends on the health of Justin Herbert 

The Raiders just went into full meltdown mode against Arizona in Week 2 and remain winless 

And suddenly the Denver Broncos might have a coaching issue. 

A division that we all thought would be one the best in the league suddenly has a number of questions being asked, while the big bad Chiefs run out to a 2-0 start. 

The team will be back in primetime next week when they travel to Tampa Bay for Sunday Night Football… I wonder if that’s on their minds at all this week. 

Meanwhile, the 0-1-1 Colts will want to win this game more, but unfortunately they will not be getting Shaq Leonard back as he continues to rehab off-season back surgery.

Those Teams Got That Dawg in The Parlay of the Week: Texans-Falcons-Cardinals +1041 

We’ve already done 1,000 words on one game, so let’s be quick. 

This Texans team is feisty.
The Falcons are just better than Seattle.
The Los Angeles Rams haven’t impressed me one bit this season, maybe Kyler and Kliff will show up for the first half this week! 

10-1 for this isn’t crazy.  

That being said… don’t lose focus. 

The Indianapolis Colts are going to win a football game this week.