Poll: How Many Games Will the Colts Win?

As I am sure you’re all aware; training camp finally gets started for the Colts (and the other teams) this month.

I think this Colts team has a lot more questions than any other in recent history. In my opinion, the last time we were this unsure about the Colts entering the season was going into Andrew Luck’s first season when almost the entire team, coaching staff, and front office was new.

Will Luck be ready for the start of the season? This morning on ESPN, Dan Graziano noted that alarm bells would go off if Luck is unavailable for Weeks 2 or 3 in the pre-season. Will Malik Hooker be ready to play? What about Clayton Geathers? How will the revamped front 7 fair? How will Chuck Pagano coach without Ryan Grigson breathing down his neck? Better? Somehow worse? Hell, we don’t quite know what to expect from the punter without Pat McAfee.

And that brings us to the main point of this article (talk about burying the lead). How many games can we realistically expect the Colts to win?

I took a look at some of the major media outlets, and found a general consensus. It seems like 8-8 (again) is the national expectation. In fact, both Sports Illustrated, Richard Janvrin of Bleacher Report, and the folks at Football Lock all peg the Colts at that record. Well, OK, Football Lock has the Colts over/under at 8.5 games.

Over at ESPN, Mike Wells slots the Colts a little higher at 9-7.

Then there’s myself and Justis Mosqueda (also of Bleacher Report) who are clearly drinking the Colts’ Kool-Aid as we’ve both projected 11 wins. In fact, Mosqueda says that 11 wins is the “Safe Pick” for the Colts.

Of course, as we all know, those of us who write about the NFL, and specifically the Colts, can’t predict the season any better than a weatherman can predict tomorrow’s forecast.

Still, the lowest projection I found was 8-8 for the Colts, with the highest being 11-5. Where do you think the Colts finish the regular season?