2015 Colts - Wild Card Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS - With the Colts at home and the regular season over the playoff picture is complete, and the Divisional round matchups are set. Indianapolis is the favorite to win the Superbowl, but there are a number of teams poised to knock them off. Denver is a very good team, and if they make it to Tampa Bay they will probably have to go through Philadelphia or San Francisco.

NFL Standings - Updated: Dec 21, 2015
NFC EAST	W	L	T
Philadelphia-Z	14	2	0
NFC NORTH	W	L	T
Minnesota-Y	11	5	0
NFC SOUTH	W	L	T
New Orleans-Y	10	5	1
NFC WEST	W	L	T
San Francisco-Y	13	3	0
NFC WILD CARD RACE	W	L	T
Seattle-X	12	4	0
Green Bay-X	9	7	0
AFC EAST	W	L	T
New England-Y	12	4	0
AFC NORTH	W	L	T
Cincinnati-Y	10	6	0
AFC SOUTH	W	L	T
Indianapolis-Z	15	1	0
AFC WEST	W	L	T
Denver-Y	13	3	0
AFC WILD CARD RACE	W	L	T
Houston-X	10	6	0
Baltimore-X	9	7	0

The wildcard weekend wrapped up with a few surprises as underdogs knocked off heavy favorites. Baltimore stunned New England 19-10 at Foxborough, and Seattle lost a close one 14-15 at New Orleans. The Bengals were bailed out by Baltimore, who now has to face the Colts, but a trip to Denver is their consolation prize.

The week off gave the Colts time to recover and deal with the avalanche of awards and accolades on both sides of the ball. Andrew Luck would take home his second straight MVP Award, and Chuck Pagano won his first Coach of the Year award thanks to their 15-1 turnaround. Pagano was awarded the 2013 George Halas Award, but this year could be even bigger.

NFL Award Winners
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Most Valuable Player	Andrew Luck (2nd)	QB	Indianapolis Colts
Coach of the Year	Chuck Pagano (1st)	HC	Indianapolis Colts

Offensively the Indianapolis Colts were dominant, and perhaps dominant isn't a good word when describing how good they were. Luck finished #1 in passing yards (4735) and TD passes (44), Trent Richardson finished #1 in rushing yards (1696) and TDs (20), T.Y. Hilton finished #1 in receiving yards (1669) and receiving TDs (16), and Cecil Shorts III capped it off by finishing #2 in yards (1384) and receiving TDs (11). As a whole, the Colts offensive finished #1 in 1st Downs, Total Yards, Passing Yards, Rushing Yards, and Points Per Game. With stunning numbers like that the Colts are bound to send numerous players to the Pro Bowl.

Defensively the Colts showed incredible levels of improvement. The rebuilding of this defense by GM Phil Emery has really paid off. Indianapolis finished #3 in Total Yards Allowed and Points Allowed, #2 in Interceptions, and #1 in Sacks and Rushing Yards Allowed. Hard to beat a team with those kinds of numbers.

Despite all of the awards and pending Pro Bowl selections, the only award that matters to this team now is the Super Bowl trophy. Three more wins and it will be theirs.