NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Colts Enter The Top 10

After being back at .500 on the year, due to a comeback loss last week against the Buccaneers, the Colts got back to their winning ways after beating the Texans. The national media moved the Colts further up the power rankings board. A seventh win on the season looks to have stretched out the Colts' life line a bit more on the season and in the division title race. Here is how the Colts stack up in the week 14 power rankings.

ESPN has the Colts at 12.

No, Wentz isn’t having a bad season. He has had a pretty solid one, in fact, with 22 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. But the first-year Colts quarterback has to take his game to an even higher level, because they are far from a lock to make the playoffs this season. They’re currently ninth in the AFC with four games remaining, which includes contests against New England, Arizona, and Las Vegas. Now is the time for Wentz to show why the Colts acquired him from Philadelphia last offseason. “It’s December; everything feels like a playoff game,” Wentz recently said.

NFL.com has the Colts at 9.

The Colts demolish bad teams. Cream them. Grind them into dust. Strike them from the Earth. Banish them to parts unknown. It happened again on Sunday, in a 31-0 win over the moribund Texans that moved Frank Reich’s men back over .500 as they reach their bye. When the Colts return to action in Week 15, they’ll hit a critical two-game stretch against the Patriots and Cardinals that will define their season. Indy still has just one win against a team with a winning record this season. Is this an actual AFC powerhouse ... or just a middle-of-the-road group that beats up on the have-nots? We’ll find out soon enough.

CBS Sports has the Colts at 13.

They dominated a bad Texans team, which was to be expected. They are still a game out of the playoffs right now as they head to their bye.

USA Today has the Colts at 10.

Average margin of victory in their seven wins is 18.3 points. They lead the league in takeaways (29) and turnover differential (+13). They’ll be a tough out if they reach postseason.

Bleacher Report has the Colts at 10.

Last week, the Indianapolis Colts suffered through a frustrating loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which they blew a double-digit halftime lead. They had no such issue in Week 13 against the hapless Texans.

The Colts dominated this game in every way a game can be dominated. Running back Jonathan Taylor continued his rampage across the NFL, piling up 143 rushing yards and two scores on 32 carries. Indy’s defense absolutely shut down the Houston offense, surrendering only 141 total yards.

While speaking to reporters after the game, head coach Frank Reich lauded the defense’s dominant showing.

“The defense was unreal,” Reich said. “That’s an epic defensive performance from really start to finish.”

The Colts remain 1.5 games back of the idle Titans in the AFC South, and with two head-to-head losses, it’ll be hard for them to win the AFC South. But they still look like they can make some noise in the playoffs.

“Taylor is the best running back in the league—or is at least playing that way,” Davenport said. “Carson Wentz has rebounded nicely from a slow start to his first year in Indy. And the defense showed Sunday how stout it is capable of being. At this point in the season, these Colts are better than the Titans.”