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On Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Tennessee Titans 27-10 in their regular season finale to finish the season with an 11-5 record heading into the playoffs. The Colts had already won the AFC South and will host a playoff game after their third straight 11-win season, but they have shown weaknesses this year that cause many to not expect much from them in the playoffs. How will all of that translate into the final power rankings of the regular season? Let's take a look.
ESPN ranks the Colts eighth, up two spots from a week ago:
Andrew Luck became the eighth quarterback to throw at least 40 touchdown passes in a single season. Not bad for a 25-year-old.
NFL.com's Elliot Harrison has the Colts ranked ninth, also up two spots from last week:
Figured Chuck Pagano would play his starters for a while, irrespective of the playoff-seeding picture, as the Colts' prior three games were uninspiring offensively: narrowly winning at Cleveland, stalling repeatedly versus Houston and getting trucked in Dallas.
CBS's Pat Kirwan ranks the Colts tenth, the same place he had them last week:
Colts (10): The Colts blanked the Bengals 27-0 when they met on Oct. 19, but the defense seems more porous now and Sunday's wild-card game vs. Cincy will be difficult. Andrew Luck is awesome but has 22 turnovers this year -- and nine in three playoff games.
CBS's Pete Prisco ranked the Colts ninth, down two spots from a week ago:
They might be a 4-12 team were it not for Andrew Luck, and even he's slowed down some the past month. Did they just feast on a bad division?
Shutdown Corner's Frank Schwab has the Colts ninth, the same as last week:
Their opponents down the stretch: Jaguars, Redskins, Browns, Texans, Cowboys, Titans. They went 5-1 but lost by 35 to the only good team on that list (unless you're impressed by beating the Texans by a touchdown at home).
The Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King ranked the Colts tenth, the same spot as last week:
10. Indianapolis (11-5).Defense and the run game are both problems entering the playoffs. That's too much pressure on Andrew Luck. Trent Richardson's best rushing game in the past eight weeks: 42 yards. His 3.3-per-carry average won't help win January games.
SB Nation's Danny Kelly has the Colts ranked eighth, up one spot from a week ago. Bleeding Green Nation's Brandon Lee Gowton ranks the Colts seventh, the same as last week.
7) Indianapolis Colts (LW: 7) - Indianapolis beat the Titans comfortably despite using their backups for a significant part of the game. Life isn't too hard in the AFC South.
| Rank | Change | |
| ESPN | 8 | + 2 |
| NFL.com | 9 | + 2 |
| CBS Sports (Kirwan) | 10 | 0 |
| CBS Sports (Prisco) | 9 | - 2 |
| Shutdown Corner | 9 | 0 |
| MMQB | 10 | 0 |
| SB Nation | 8 | + 1 |
| Bleeding Green Nation | 7 | 0 |
| AVERAGE | 9 | 0 |
Ultimately, the Colts didn't change much in many of the power rankings, and that's not much of a surprise. They did win, but they beat perhaps the worst team in the NFL in the Titans. They're in the playoffs, but they're ranked as one of the lowest of the playoff teams. That's about right for the Colts, who have shown a number of weaknesses this year but, as the power rankings also do indicate, are 11-5.