2016 Colts - Wild Card Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS - The Colts are once again waiting it out during the first round of the playoffs with a well deserved BYE. The time off allowed the Colts to celebrate a little bit more once again as the awards and accolades rolled in.

Nobody was surprised, even though he was humble enough to say that he thought Aaron Rodgers would win, but Andrew Luck brought home his third straight MVP award. Luck finished the season with a new NFL record in passing yards, 6756, beating his own record set in 2015. He also threw 54TD passes, another record that bested his mark of 44 in 2015. It really couldn't have been anyone else, he has truly taken the reigns as the best player in the NFL.

Luck's assault on the record books will be going for years and years.

Not to be overlooked, but Chuck Pagano won his second Coach Of The Year award and puts himself in a position to get a hefty contract extension. While the offense got most of the headlines, the Colts defense held it's own as one of the best in the NFL. Pagano and DC Greg Manusky have done quite a job with a very talented unit.

Indianapolis also landed the Offensive Player Of The Year (Luck), Offensive Rookie Of The Year (HB Shayn Ramsey), Defensive Rookie Of The Year (CB Kian Sampson), and the Defensive Lineman Of The Year (Donavon Browning).

Wildcard Scores

#3 New England 29 - #6 Houston 23
#4 Baltimore 25 - #5 San Diego 22
#3 Seattle 31 - #6 Arizona 28
#4 Tampa Bay 19 - #5 San Francisco 26

Aside from the 49ers upset of Tampa Bay every game was close. The Ravens earn the honor of traveling to Lucas Oil Stadium and trying to stop the most prolific offense in the history of the NFL.

2016 Colts - Week 17

1:00PM ET - December 27th, 2016

Paul Brown Stadium - Cincinnati, OH

Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals
Oct 30, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Indianapolis Colts (15-1, 8-0 Away)	14	7	7	14	42
Cincinnati Bengals (6-10, 3-5 Home)	0	7	0	7	14

Top Performers

Passing : A. Luck (IND) - 342YDS, 4TD
Rushing : J. Forsett (IND) - 19CAR, 116YDS, TD
Receiving : C. Shorts III (IND) - 5REC, 138YDS, TD

CINCINNATI - The final week of the regular season is finally here and the AFC playoffs race is coming down to the wire for just about every team involved. Thanks to the Colts opening week loss to the Broncos, they would be under pressure to win this week. Every single team, even ones that had already clinched a spot, could change seeds with a loss today. With four teams in the running for the wildcard slots, there would be an enormous amount of pressure to win today.

NFL Standings - Updated: Oct 30, 2016
AFC EAST	W	L	T
Y-New England	12	3	0
AFC NORTH	W	L	T
Y-Baltimore	11	4	0
AFC SOUTH	W	L	T
Y-Indianapolis	14	1	0
AFC WEST	W	L	T
Y-Denver	13	2	0
AFC WILD CARD RACE	W	L	T
Cleveland	9	6	0
NY Jets	9	6	0
San Diego	9	6	0
Houston	8	6	1

The Colts don't really do second gear, and even though they just had to win they blew out the hapless Bengals. The few Colts fans that braved the trip to Cincinnati could be seen waving 'Bungles' signs in the stands, and Indianapolis certainly made them look right.

The Bengals secondary just killed them today, allowing Andrew Luck to pass for 342 yards and 4TD on a simple 20/26. Their weakness was giving up massive amounts of yards to Cecil Shorts III and T.Y. Hilton, who combined for 13 receptions and a whopping 275 yards. Indianapolis opened the scoring with a 77 yard TD to Shorts that started as a 5 yard out, and the Bengals just couldn't tackle him.

The Colts poured it on in the first half with three TD passes, one to Shorts and two to Hilton, before Cincinnati could get on the board with a 9 yard strike to TE Tyler Eifert. The Bengals went into the locker room with their heads down, and they probably should have just stayed in there for the second half.

Marcus Lattimore made it 28-7 with a 1 yard TD run, and then the Bengals really lost their motivation. Gio Bernard went down with a high ankle sprain and left the game, clearly draining the Bengals of their spirit. Things only got worse in the 4th when the Colts made it 42-7, and then Andy Dalton left the game with a chest injury. Rookie QB Kain Jackson came in and hit Eifert for his second TD of the game, but it was too little too late.

Ramsey had a short day, but he had an incredible rookie season.

It wasn't all that surprising to see Dalton get injured, Indianapolis totalled nine sacks during the game. Dalton could barely snap the ball before Vontaze Burfict and D'Qwell Jackson were in his face, both players nabbed three sacks. To add insult it injury, Hilton was swamped on the sidelines in the closing minutes as teammates and coaching staff congratulated him on a stunning record breaking season. Hilton would walk out of the game with 2107 receiving yards, crushing Calvin Johnson's record of 1964.

The win clinches the #1 seed in the playoffs, and with so many of the wildcard teams playing night games the Colts will have to sit back and see who their potential opponents will be in two weeks.

2016 Colts - Week 16

1:00PM ET - December 20th, 2016

LP Field - Nashville, TN

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans
Oct 23, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Indianapolis Colts (14-1, 7-0 Away)	14	21	0	21	56
Tennessee Titans (2-13, 2-6 Home)	7	10	7	0	24

Top Performers

Passing : R. Fitzpatrick (TEN) - 358YDS, 3TD
Rushing : S. Ramsey (IND) - 16CAR, 163YDS, 2TD
Receiving : J. Kearse (TEN) - 8REC, 120YDS, 2TD

NASHVILLE - With a playoff spot already in hand it all comes down to style points with only two games left. Thanks to Denver's 12-2 record coming into this week Indianapolis will have to keep it's foot on the pedal to grab that #1 seed. The Titans are probably happy to be on the wrong end of the Colts playoff run, the top pick in the draft would really help them rebuild.

There wasn't all that much in terms of entertainment today, unless you like seeing a superior team completely demolish a weak opponent. Andrew Luck barely had to throw the ball, going 20/25, to rack up 300 yards of passing. This game was all about the Colts punishing ground attack, and it certainly punished the Titans.

Ryan Fitzpatrick did his best, throwing for over 300 yards with 3TD, but the Titans couldn't run the ball themselves and spent most of the second half suffering through three-and-out possessions. Despite putting 24 points on the board, a worrisome sign for the Colts defense, the Titans were never really in this game.

A brick would couldn't stop the Indianapolis ground game.

Shayn Ramsey and Justin Forsett combined for an eye popping 291 yards on 33 carries, and at no point did the Titans seem like they could stop them. Part of the problem was stopping the run while covering the Colts wideouts. This issue helped T.Y. Hilton join Luck in the history books with a modest 58 receiving yards. Hilton ended the game with 1970 receiving yards on the season which passes Calvin Johnson's record of 1964. With one game left a 2000 yard receiving season isn't out of the question.

The Colts head to Cincinnati for the final game of the regular season, a win would clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

2016 Colts - Week 15

1:00PM ET - December 13th, 2016

Lambeau Field - Green Bay, WI

Indianapolis Colts at Green Bay Packers
Oct 16, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Indianapolis Colts (13-1, 6-0 Away)	10	21	0	10	41
Green Bay Packers (10-3-1, 6-1 Home)	3	14	0	14	31

Top Performers

Passing : A. Luck (IND) - 401YDS, 3TD
Rushing : S. Ramsey (IND) - 29CAR, 91YDS, 2TD
Receiving : D. Rogers (IND) - 10REC, 166YDS

GREEN BAY - Heavy winds and an early winter cheer did little to lessen the Colts' spirits this week. With Houston's tie in Week 14 the Colts clinched the AFC South and yet another division title. After weeks of soft opponents that seemed to melt in the face of Indianapolis' red hot offense, playing the 10-2-1 Packers would be a real test of their title mettle.

The teams traded long field goals to open the scoring before Andrew Luck extended his own record with a 10 yard TD pass to T.Y Hilton. The swirling winds proved to be an issue all game, and the Packers seemed to know it. Green Bay did it's best to halt the Colts' running game, hoping that the wind would act like a 12th man against the passing game.

Aaron Rodgers tied things up with a 5 yard scramble in the 2nd quarter, but the Colts took over and asserted themselves as usual. Two TD passes, including a 45 yarder to Cecil Shorts III, and a short TD run by Ramsey put Indianapolis up 31-10. Green Bay managed a scoring drive before the end of the half, but they were clearly reeling on defense.

Both head coaches did their homework, with Mike McCarthy getting the slight edge by attempting a 47 yard FG, but neither team put up any points during the 3rd quarter.

Luck continues his run at a third MVP trophy.

Indianapolis tried to rely on the running game to close things out, but the Packers really made it hard to move the ball on the ground. Ramsey did find the endzone early in the 4th, but it was nearly all Green Bay going forward. Rodgers was deadly, but he continued to run the ball which gave the Colts defense problems all game. Two straight drives ended in TD runs, one of them Jonathan Stewart's second of the game, and suddenly the Packers were only down by a TD.

Despite relatively close offensive stats, in the end it was Luck's passing and a clock eating final drive that put this game away. A short FG with less than a minute left put Indianapolis up by 10, and it would finish that way.

With a playoff spot already locked up and two sub .500 teams left, including the league's worst team (Tennessee), a #1 seed is firmly within grasp.