Its almost as if the Indianapolis Colts were rewarded for going on the road and taking down the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 5 as they got to enjoy their bye immediately following the upset win.
With a week off to self-evaluate and rest up for the second half of the season, the Colts are sitting at No. 8 in Doug Farrar’s NFL power rankings for Touchdown Wire entering Week 7.
8. Indianapolis Colts
(3-2, Week 6 Bye. Last week: 8)
The Colts impressed just about everybody with a 3-2 start, despite Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement and the loss of several key defensive players. They’ll get linebacker Darius Leonard back for their Sunday go-to against the Texans, and safety Malik Hooker back soon afterward (hopefully). But the question against a super-hot Houston offense is whether Jacoby Brissett has it in him to duel with Deshaun Watson mano-a-mano. If not, will head coach and offensive play-designer Frank Reich work to keep Watson off the field with a body-blow run game? Reich is one of the league’s most adaptable coaches, so prepare for anything.
The Colts will have a chance to take the top spot in the division if they can pull off a win against the Texans on Sunday. It won’t be an easy task—as the Texans have scored 84 points in the last two games—but the Colts have already proved they can take down the best of the best.
For the sake of the power rankings in the AFC South, the Texans lead the way at No. 3 followed by the Colts (No. 8), the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 18) and the Tennessee Titans (No. 22).
The Colts have a big stretch of winnable games coming up that could very well determine their playoff chances, and it starts with an exciting matchup at home against the Texans.
