Colts eliminated from playoff contention with Texans' win over Chargers
The Colts became the fifth team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to win seven of their first eight games and miss the playoffs.
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The Indianapolis Colts have been eliminated from playoff contention following the Houston Texans’ 20-16 win against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.
After an electric 8-2 start, things unraveled quickly in Indianapolis. The Colts, who have lost five straight, entered Week 17 with their playoff chances essentially out of their control. Indianapolis (8-7) plays the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4) on Sunday, but a win at home will no longer be enough to keep it in the postseason picture.
Houston (11-5), which trails the Jaguars in the division, clinched a playoff berth with its eighth straight victory.
The Colts lost quarterback Daniel Jones to a torn Achilles tendon in Week 14. In one of the biggest in-season roster moves of the year, Indianapolis signed 44-year-old Philip Rivers to replace him. Even five years removed from his last NFL snap, Rivers put on vintage performances in his first two starts, but Indy’s defense fell apart. The Colts lost to the Seattle Seahawks (18-16) and San Francisco 49ers (48-27) in Rivers’ first two games back.
Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, only five teams had won seven of their first eight games and missed the playoffs. Now there are six. The Colts’ playoff odds were as high as 98 percent in Week 10, according to The Athletic’s NFL playoff simulator, and in contention for the AFC’s No. 1 seed. Now, the Colts are left on the outside looking in for the fifth straight season.
Indy had some hope for last-minute momentum with cornerback Sauce Gardner returning Sunday from a left calf injury. The Colts acquired Gardner in a blockbuster trade with the New York Jets, but he has been sidelined since exiting the Week 13 game against the Texans early. League sources told The Athletic before the weekend that Gardner is expected to play regardless of the playoff picture.
After Sunday’s game against the Jaguars, the Colts end the season on the road against the Texans.
Colts analysis
The Colts are the first team in 30 years and just the sixth since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 to start a season 8-2 and miss the playoffs, according to The Associated Press. Indy improved to 8-2 and stood atop the AFC after defeating the Atlanta Falcons in Berlin in Week 10, but it’s now two losses away from tying a franchise record with seven straight losses to end the season.