Indianapolis Colts-A
The top priority for the Colts this season was to discover whether or not they could count on Andrew Luck being their franchise quarterback moving forward. He emphatically answered that question by putting up a Pro Bowl-caliber season. Anything else the Colts got out of the year was pure gravy.
As it happens, Indianapolis got a lot of gravy. Frank Reich may not have been the franchise’s first choice, but he looks like a guy who really has command of his locker room. In particular, he crafted one of the NFL’s best offenses. The Colts put up 27.1 points per game which was good for fifth in the league. Luck’s resurgence was a huge part of the successful formula, but adding guys like Quenton Nelson also helped the Colts start to develop a physical running game.
The defense was slightly above average across the board, but that significantly exceeded preseason expectations. The emergence of Darius Leonard as a monster linebacker puts the group on solid footing moving forward. It’s not difficult to envision this group becoming a top-10 unit if the front office can make some smart additions in the offseason.
As long as Luck can stay healthy, the Colts are well-positioned to be serious Super Bowl contenders in the future. Any reasonable fan would have taken the season’s results in a heartbeat when this campaign began.