{"id":998692,"date":"2026-09-12T09:57:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T09:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/998692\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T09:57:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T09:57:38","slug":"indianapolis-colts-given-34-chance-to-make-2026-nfl-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/998692\/","title":{"rendered":"Indianapolis Colts given 34% chance to make 2026 NFL playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sept. 9, 2026, 2:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The Indianapolis Colts<\/a> are aiming to finish what they started last season, but one projection remains skeptical.<\/p>\n

PFF gave Shane Steichen’s team a 34% chance<\/a> of reaching the playoffs. The model also assigned the Colts<\/a> a 1% chance of winning the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

PFF’s Bradley Locker pointed to Indianapolis’ dramatic 2025 decline as a reason for caution.<\/p>\n

“The Colts looked the part of giants early in the year but swiftly cratered, going from first to 27th\u00a0in EPA per play over Weeks 13-18,” Locker wrote.<\/p>\n

There is rationale for optimism, though, entering 2026.<\/p>\n

Your fantasy edge starts here Sync your league for custom roster advice, projections, and tools to win your matchups every week.<\/a><\/p>\n

Quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Alec Pierce both returned on new contracts, keeping together much of an offense that flashed big-time upside last season. PFF also described the unit as talented and well-coached under Steichen.<\/p>\n

The true iffiness may reside on defense, where Indianapolis finished 23rd in pressure rate last season and will be counting on several younger players to assume significant roles.<\/p>\n

At 34%, PFF essentially views the Colts as an underdog in the AFC playoff race entering Week 1 \u2014 leaving Indianapolis a chance to outperform outside expectations quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sept. 9, 2026, 2:30 p.m. ET The Indianapolis Colts are aiming to finish what they started last season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":998693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[95878,7,6,84,119269,49915,95900,96014,95882,95887,96015,95903,95896,95888,95895,95899,95883,95881],"class_list":["post-998692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-playoffs","tag-accessfree","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-playoffs","tag-sourcecolts-wire","tag-sstssportsnflcolts","tag-sstsncolts","tag-tagalec-pierce","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagamerican-football-conference","tag-tagdaniel-jones","tag-tagindianapolis-colts","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-neutral","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117257479341928065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=998692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=998692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=998692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=998692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}