Indianapolis Colts Have Tough Betting Odds to Win AFC South

In the latest betting odds from FanDuel, the Indianapolis Colts are heavy underdogs to win the AFC South in 2023.

Betting odds can be pretty murky with the validity. However, FanDuel recently released their betting odds for all NFL teams to win their respective divisions. For the Indianapolis Colts, the odds aren’t too favorable.

According to Mason Cameron from Pro Football Focus, the Jacksonville Jaguars are the team who will take the division. He highlights this a bit in his “NFL Betting 2023” piece discussing odds for the division champions across the league.

Cameron lays it out with nice points. He states, “Without a doubt, the division runs through Duval. Trevor Lawrence and company are poised to control this division after closing out the 2022 season on a strong note by winning six of their last seven, including their first playoff victory since 2017.

The reinstatement of Calvin Ridley (84.9 PFF grade in his last full season) is sure to add some juice to this offense that will be tough to match for the rest of the South.”

For the Colts, it is reflected in how little faith the bettors have in Indianapolis stealing the division. The Colts have +550 underdog odds to become the AFC South champions, putting them third out of four teams.

This translates to about a 15% chance that Indianapolis makes it happen, according to Cameron. Below is the entire division, the odds, and the percentage of chances to win the division in 2023.

• Jacksonville Jaguars: -160 (62%)
• Tennesse Titans: +360 (22%)
• Indianapolis Colts: +550 (15%)
• Houston Texans: +800 (11%)

The Jaguars, on the other hand, are sitting at comfortable -160 odds to win back the division, which is still +520 ahead of the second-place Tennessee Titans and even more over the Houston Texans, who sit at +800.

The Colts are likely at these underdog odds due to multiple factors that are now with the franchise. Shane Steichen is a brand new head coach getting his feet wet for the first time in that position. Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter and quarterbacks coach Cam Turner are on a new team as opposed to last season.

Anthony Richardson is a raw rookie QB who will need time to develop, and there are 12 new rookies added to the roster, multiple of which will likely be relied on to start.

Is Vegas being too hard on Indianapolis? Are the Colts a perfect fit for odds like +550? It’s hard to say this early. Sometimes, as the Colts’ head coaching search showed, Vegas odds can be fickle.

At one point, Wink Martindale and Jeff Saturday were “locks” to get the head coaching position as options at favorable odds, so take these odds with a grain of salt for now.

It will be interesting to see if these odds are completely wrong or hold up strongly. Will Steichen and Richardson be able to shatter the sportsbooks? They will have many opportunities to do so in 2023.

---

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Facebook and Twitter.