Fansided

NFL playoffs: How your team can make it

By Matt Verderame

Dec 28, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) throws during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) throws during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) runs off the field after losing to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) runs off the field after losing to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /

Indianapolis Colts. 1. player. 46. . AFC. South

The easy thing to do here would say Andrew Luck, and look at the rest of the AFC South. But, this is FanSided, and we don’t do that type of thing. The Indianapolis Colts have been to the playoffs three straight years with Luck at the helm and have advanced a round further each time. Last year, the season ended in controversy (DeFlategate) and misery in the AFC Championship game at the hands of the New England Patriots, 45-7.

Indianapolis has perhaps the best offense in the AFC with Luck at the controls. Despite a mediocre offensive line, the talent around Luck is top-notch. On the outside, the fourth-year pro out of Stanford has Andre Johnson and T.Y. Hilton, along with first-round pick Phillip Dorsett competing for time. At tight end, Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen are a formidable duo, with Fleener amassing 774 yards and eight touchdowns in 2014. Also, Luck finally has a capable running back behind him with Frank Gore, who signed a two-year deal in free agency.

The defense is better with the additions of Trent Cole and the assumed return of 2013 sack-champion Robert Mathis, along with the continued excellence of corner Vontae Davis. Safety Mike Adams is older but coming off his first Pro Bowl campaign. All told, the defense should be able to play middle-of-the-pack football, which is all Luck and Co. need.

Unless Luck gets hurt for an extended period of time, the Colts will not only make the playoffs but likely have home-field advantage in the postseason. Indianapolis plays in the woeful AFC South and also draws the pathetic NFC South, giving it 10 games it should win without much problem. If it can just split the other six, there is 13-3. Needless to say, the Colts would be the favorite to reach the Super Bowl in that scenario.

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