Week 3 Results and Their Effect on the AFC South Playoff Race

Indianapolis Colts

Week 3 Result: Beat Cleveland Browns 31-28

What it Means: If someone had told me a year ago that the Colts would be considered underdogs against the Cleveland Browns of all teams, I wouldn’t have believed it for an instant. Cleveland has been a bastion of mediocrity for years in the NFL. Though it’s true that Cleveland has improved, this really goes to show how far this Colts team has fallen even though they were considered perennial playoff contenders for many years. This roster was poorly constructed without a doubt, but Andrew Luck managed to carry them to a respectable record every year. With Luck injured, the Colts are floundering.

That said, one must give credit where credit is due and the Colts did manage to narrowly beat the Browns on the back of second-year quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who scored three total touchdowns in his first start as an Colt. The defense showed some signs of life in the win and the score was only close after Cleveland scored touchdowns versus a prevent defense. However, the Colts can’t hope to play a team like the Browns every week, and until Luck returns, they can’t hope to compete against most of the NFL’s other teams.

What’s Next: The Colts play a Seattle Seahawks team with a dominant defense and a shaky offense. The Seahawks lost to Tennessee last week after the Titans managed to shut down the opposing offense and overwhelm the weak Seahawks line. On the offensive side of the ball, the Titans’ strong rushing attack ground down the vaunted Seattle defense. Unfortunately, the Colts have none of these advantages heading into Sunday’s matchup. The Colts defense won’t be stifling anyone, the plodding rushing attack won’t beat the Seahawks front 7, and Brissett won’t be able to do enough to hide these deficiencies. Expect a rout.