First half of Week 14 games not going great for Colts playoff chances

With the first half of the early games on the NFL’s week 14 slate in the books, things aren’t going well for the Indianapolis Colts' playoff chances.

Ravens vs Browns

Currently the Baltimore Ravens are getting blown out of the water by the Cleveland Browns. If the Browns can hold on to the win they will move to 7-6, tied with the Colts. Former MVP Lamar Jackson has been carted off in this one with an ankle injury and is been ruled out for the rest of the game, so it doesn’t seem like we’re going to see a comeback.

Titans vs. Jaguars

Predictably, the Jacksonville Jaguars are losing to the Tennessee Titans. Urban Meyer did call his assistant coaches losers this week, clearly they didn’t want to make him a liar. Somewhat surprisingly the Titans are only up by a score of 10-0 after 2.5 quarters. The Titans are sitting at 8-4, leading the AFC South. It has seemed like a longshot that the Colts might come back and win the South but this year has been wild and anything is possible. Except Urban Meyer turning into a good NFL head coach, that doesn’t seem possible at all.

Chiefs vs Raiders

The lone bright spot for the Colts in this early slate has been the absolute shellacking the Kansas City Chiefs are doling out to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders look like they’ll fall to 6-7 after today’s game, taking them a game further out of wildcard contention.

Late Games to Monitor

Buffalo Bills vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bills are sitting at 7-5 and are taking on a very good Bucs team who seem to be hitting their stride. A Bills loss would drop them to 7-6, which is good for the 7-6 Colts.

San Francisco 49ers vs Cincinnati Bengals

Yet another 7-5 AFC team in the Bengals is going up against another hot NFC opponent in the 49ers. Even though it might seem like Bengals fans have been through enough, we should really be hoping for more heartbreak for them this week.

New York Giants vs Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers, like the Colts, are also 7-5. The Giants are not a good football team but, once again, this season has been strange. Cross your fingers and hope for an upset in LA.

Detroit Lions vs Denver Broncos

The Broncos are sitting at 6-6 and the Lions just got their first win of the season last week against the Minnesota Vikings. Of all the games that seem like longshots to break the Colts' way this week, this one feels like the biggest longshot of them all. Still, keeping the Broncos from getting to 7-6 would be huge for Indy’s postseason chances.

If it feels like every game is important for the Colts' chances to play meaningful football in January, you’re close to right. That’s a testament to how strange of a year 2021 has been. If you don’t want to try to keep track of every important game, just cheer for the NFC today. It’s safer that way.

Enjoy the bye.

Go Colts