NFL Analyst Gives Colts Abysmal Chance to Win AFC South in 2024

The Indianapolis Colts aren't being given much of a chance to win their division ahead of their week two contest.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) rushes the ball Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, during a game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Indianapolis Colts are approaching their week two clash at Lambeau Field with the Green Bay Packers. Both teams are going into this contest with a 0-1 record, so something has to give for this battle of cross-conference foes. While it's early in the 2024 campaign for every NFL franchise, Pro Football Focus brought out their latest league-wide power rankings ahead of week two.

While Indianapolis lines up at 21st overall, it isn't the placing in the rankings that stands out from Thomas Valentine's piece. Instead, it's the percentage chance for Indianapolis to take the AFC South after just a single close loss to the Houston Texans. Valentine has Indy's chances at a paltry 18.1%. Below are the chances and their respective percentages from Valentine's breakdown.

• % chance of making the playoffs: 31.7%
• % chance of winning the division: 18.1%
• % chance of winning conference: 2.9%
• % chance of winning the Super Bowl: 1.1%

What happens next for the Colts? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Colts news delivered to your inbox daily!

Indianapolis has work to do after losing cornerback JuJu Brents to a knee injury for the 2024 season. They also must improve defending the ground attack more efficiently (213 allowed to Texans in week one). But, the Jacksonville Jaguars (22.5% chance) just placed cornerback Tyson Campbell on injured reserve and the Tennessee Titans (13.1% chance) have more problems than solutions at quarterback with Will Levis. While these scenarios seem to favor Houston (46.3% chance), they don't in reality.

Divisional games go down to the wire in most cases and Indianapolis was a play or two away from clipping Houston in week one, who won narrowly 29-27. Given that the Jaguars and Titans, in some forms, have more complete rosters than Indianapolis, it spells a closer finish to the AFC South crown in 2024 than PFF may foresee.

For Indianapolis, it's all about trying to salvage the secondary and utilize Anthony Richardson, Michael Pittman Jr., and Jonathan Taylor in as many offensive ways as possible. The Colts don't have a divisional opponent for week two in the Packers but must treat the road contest like one to avoid the brutal odds that NFL analysts are giving them to win the AFC South. We'll see what happens on Sunday for Shane Steichen's second game of 2024.

---

Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Facebook and X; subscribe on YouTube for multiple Colts live-stream podcasts per week.