The Indianapolis Colts are exactly the type of team that makes NFL observers question them week in and week out. At 6-1 and atop the entire AFC, the naysayers kept saying, “yeah, we’ll see” along the way.
And they weren’t wrong for thinking that, after all this is a team that most didn’t think would even have a functional quarterback during training camp, when Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson were battling it out for the starting spot.
After a sound beating of the Los Angeles (I still want to type ‘San Diego’ so badly) Chargers on Sunday, the Colts have one NFL insider believing. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco has the Colts No. 1 in the power rankings and literally ate paper with hot sauce to prove how wrong he was about this team.
“The Indianapolis Colts made me eat my words,” Prisco writes. “With hot sauce.
“On our Sunday night NFL recap show on CBS Sports HQ, I actually ate paper with hot sauce because of the Colts. During the show, I said I would eat my words for saying the Colts weren’t legitimate — something I’d said the past two weeks leading into Sunday’s dominant 38-24 victory over the Chargers. So I did. They brought me some hot sauce, I poured it on the paper and began to chew. I didn’t actually swallow it, but the point was made: The Colts are for real.
“There, I said it.”
Win over Chargers proved Indianapolis Colts were for real
It’s not as difficult to believe that the Colts are ranked this high when you consider that no one in the NFL is that good. The last few weeks, the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles sure proved that they are mortal. The Green Bay Packers have a tie and lost to the Cleveland Browns. The Baltimore Ravens (another preseason darling, just like they are every year) are without Lamar Jackson and have won one game. The Detroit Lions have a mangled secondary.
You get my point. So, it’s not a stretch for Prisco to have them this high on his list.
“If the Chargers were the proving game, as I said, they’ve proven it. More proof: They’re averaging 33.1 points per game, tops in the league,” Prisco continues. “They’ve scored 232 points in seven games. The Peyton Manning-led Colts teams never did that. The Daniel Jones-led Colts have done it. Amazing.
“The Colts are 6-1 and up to the top spot in my Power Rankings this week, doing so with two MVP candidates. Jones is one with his resurgent year, but running back Jonathan Taylor makes it all go.”
Are the Indianapolis Colts worth of the high praise?
Now, it’s time for the counter argument. Sure, there isn’t a powerhouse team in the NFL right now and that includes the Colts. They are a very good team, but are they that good?
A quick perusal of their games so far:
Week 1: Stomped what we now know to be a dreadful Miami Dolphins team.
Week 2: Squeaked out a win on some last-second chicanery against the Broncos.
Week 3: Crushed the Tennessee Titans just like everyone else.
Week 4: Lost to the Los Angeles Rams, but really could have won that game. No shame in that loss.
Week 5: Las Vegas Raiders…back to destroying terrible teams, this time without a kicker.
Week 6: Beat Arizona Cardinals‘ backup quarterback in a close game. Same Cardinals that lost to the aforementioned Titans.
Week 7: Great win crossing the country to handle the Chargers.
Prisco’s No. 1 ranking of the Colts probably says more about the parity in the NFL than it does about the Colts’ dominance. Still, 6-1 is 6-1 and bad-mediocre teams don’t have those records. The Titans are up next so don’t expect the Colts to budge from this spot.
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