Win and In: Colts Still in Driver’s Seat for Playoff Destiny Ahead of Regular Season Finale

After suffering a disappointing loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Indianapolis Colts are still in the driver’s seat for determining their playoff destiny ahead of a Week 18 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars for the regular season finale.

It’s as simple as this: ‘win and they’re in’.

While the encouraging news is that the Colts take on the lowly Jaguars of all NFL teams, who at 2-14, may be more concerned about securing the #1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft than knocking out an AFC South rival from the playoffs.

That being said, the Colts haven’t won in Jacksonville since 2014, and divisional games often tend to be closely contested—where victories are narrowly won out at the end.

There’s reason for cautious optimism for the Colts this upcoming weekend—given the easier matchup, but after failing to clinch on Sunday against the Raiders at home—and their recent track record in Jacksonville, nothing is exactly a given either.

However, if the Colts cannot win a must-win game against the Jaguars, who are clearly bad and rebuilding (and still recovering from fired head coach Urban Meyer), then honestly, the team doesn’t really deserve to be in the playoffs regardless.