How the Colts put themselves in position to make the playoffs
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts (9-7) have come a long way this season, and now are positioned to make the playoffs and potentially win the AFC South with a win over the Houston Texans on Saturday night.
This is the same Colts team that started 3-5, losing its highly drafted quarterback Anthony Richardson to a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 5.
This came after the team started the first four weeks without All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor, who then missed three additional weeks at the start of December with a separate injury.
Add in a myriad of suspensions and other injuries, first-year head coach Shane Steichen has had his hands full all season.
“It says a lot about the guys in the locker room,” Steichen said Tuesday. “We have some really good veteran leaders that hold that locker room tight-knit, together. Starting off 3-5, finding our way out of that hole and putting ourselves in position with a chance to make the playoffs is huge.”
If the Colts beat Houston at home on Saturday, they would clinch a spot in the playoffs.
If Indianapolis wins and Jacksonville loses, the Colts would win the AFC South and host a first-round playoff game.
This scenario seemed improbable after the Colts lost three straight games at the end of October, falling two games below .500.
“The resiliency,” Steichen said. “You build, you gel, the chemistry always starts in the middle of the season, finding out who you are. The offensive chemistry, the defensive chemistry, the communication, you always want that stuff to keep rising up. That’s what our guys have done to put ourselves in the position that we are in right now.”
“Resiliency” is a word that Steichen uses often when talking about the 2023 Indianapolis Colts, a message that seems to resonate with his players.
“Resiliency,” Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew said. “That is something that you find out as you go through stuff, and we’ve been through it. We’re kind of battle tested at this point, we know who we are and I’m excited to go out there with this group.”
Minshew’s backfield partner Jonathan Taylor has struggled through battles of his own this season. The star running back missed nearly half the season with injuries, but loves his team’s ability to bounce back.
“You can see the fight in every game,” Taylor said. “Until the clock strikes zero, you can see the fight. No matter if we’re up by three, down by 14, up by 15, 16, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to keep fighting and scrapping because we understand, you don’t get complacent if you are up and also it’s not over until its over.”
Star linebacker Zaire Franklin just broke the Colts’ single season record for total tackles, despite missing a game in early November. Franklin’s leadership has been a big part of the team’s success.
“We’ve just been through so much,” Franklin said. “All the trials and tribulations that we went through last year prepared us for the high and lows this season. Every time something happened we just came closer together as a unit and that is the type of stuff that separates teams in late December and early January.”
The Colts take the field on Saturday night when they host the Houston Texans (9-7) at 8:15 p.m. EST.
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