NFL: 5 teams most likely to underachieve
By Bryce Olin
4. Indianapolis Colts: 9.5 wins
The Colts benefit from playing in a weak division, possibly the weakest in the entire league. Even in the weakest division, I can see a scenario where the Colts finish the season 8-8 or 9-7, easily underachieving after making the playoffs the last two seasons.
The Colts’ defense wasn’t bad last season, finishing ninth in the league in points allowed, but they didn’t really get better this season. The Colts signed linebacker D’Qwell Jackson as an upgrade over Pat Angerer, but Jackson isn’t anything special. The Colts also lost safety Antoine Bethea to the 49ers in free agency and didn’t sign a viable replacement. Regardless of what you think of Bethea, he was good for the Colts, and his loss leaves a void in the secondary.
Andrew Luck has been solid in his first two seasons as a pro, but I think he’s in for a down year. It’s just a feeling, mostly. Every quarterback has a few bad seasons; Luck is not the exception.
This offseason, the Colts signed wide receiver Hakeem Nicks to give Luck another target. Unfortunately, the Colts forgot to look at Nicks’ stats over the last few seasons or they would have realized Nicks is nothing special either, just a name people know. Nicks did catch 59 passes for 896 yards last season for the Giants, but most of those yards can be attributed to the Giants passing all the time because they were behind. Nicks also didn’t find the end zone last season and only scored three touchdowns in 2012. He might not be the answer the Colts’ are looking for at receiver.
The Colts will definitely have to throw the ball this season to be successful; running the ball won’t get the job done. Former running back Donald Brown is in San Diego, which passes the buck to Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw to split carries in the backfield. Neither has been impressive in recent memory, which puts more and more pressure on Andrew Luck.
Ultimately, the AFC South is so bad the Colts should walk through the division. Jacksonville is a few years away from being really competitive. Tennessee is on the up-and-up with Ken Whisenhunt as the coach and new players all over the place. They’ll need time to gel together. Houston still needs a quarterback and help in the secondary before I’m willing to seriously consider them a threat to the Colts.
The Colts will make the playoffs, but I consider them a step below the elite teams in the AFC, like Denver, New England, and even Cincinnati.