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Though the preseason officially began last Sunday with the Hall of Fame game, the other teams will begin their preseason action over the next few days, with teams playing Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday (Colts vs. Eagles). Because of that, NFL.com's Elliot Harrison released his latest set of power rankings to begin the preseason, and he had the Indianapolis Colts third overall - and the highest-ranked AFC team.
Here's what Harrison had to say about the Colts:
The Colts are getting more powerful without even doing anything. Now that it looks like the best offensive player in the AFC South this side of Andrew Luck -- Texans running back Arian Foster -- will be out for a lengthy duration, why can't Indy secure the top overall seed in the AFC? Playing a total of six games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans and currently-Foster-free Texans, the Colts will probably go 6-0 or 5-1 in their division. As for the matchups with the other South -- Indy's NFC foes in 2015 -- the Colts should go at least 3-1.
Interestingly, Harrison really doesn't say anything about this Colts team but rather spends the entire time talking about their easy schedule. Normally, power rankings are used to predict the best teams and not necessarily the best records (because there is so much variable there), but there's no doubt about the fact that the Colts have a very favorable schedule in 2015, and they certainly should be able to contend for the top overall seed in the conference. Because of their schedule and also the fact that they're likely going to be a very good team (mainly a very good offense) in 2015, the expectations are very high for the Colts this year.
Their third-overall ranking places the Colts just behind the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks and right ahead of the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys. Whether you agree with this power ranking or not (I think third overall is just about right for the Colts at this point), it's just another example of the fact that the expectations for the Colts in 2015 are very high and that it should be a very fun year to be a Colts fan.