That's not how it was supposed to go. When the Colts traded for Sauce Gardner, they were praised, rightly so, for being one of the true trade deadline winners who gave up draft capital. For a defense that is literally the opposite of the Buffalo Bills', going out and getting one of the best young corners in the NFL was an absolute coup.
But with basically six weeks of play left to go before the regular season ends, Sauce Gardner had to be helped off the field after suffering a non-contact injury.
Sauce Gardner walks off the field in Indy VERY gingerly pic.twitter.com/33bMgT0aQf
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 30, 2025
The Colts' biggest weakness gets worse
More updates are to come obviously, but Gardner indicated his injury is a strain, not a problem with his Achilles. That's not an official diagnosis. Either way, even a strain leaves an already shallow unit for the Colts absolutely depleted, with them now down to just three healthy cornerbacks for the time being, if not the rest of the season and playoffs. And if anything happens to Charvarius Ward, Indy will be running with a bottom-tier corner and one that hasn't even played enough snaps to register a PFF grade. Indianapolis' defense is a sea of red, but just to get the picture, this is their current depth chart at corner:
LCB | RCB |
|---|---|
Sauce Gardner (O) | Charvarius Ward |
Mekhi Blackmon | Johnathan Edwards (O) |
Jaylon Jones | Justin Walley (IR) |
Just close your eyes to what carnage Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to do to the Colts' secondary. That's more than enough to worry about for the Colts even if Lawrence doesn't reforge his connection with Brian Thomas, Jr. down in Jacksonville. And even if he doesn't, Jakobi Meyers has already developed enough chemistry in the Jaguars' offense to be dangerous all by himself.
What this means for the AFC South
And let's not forget that the Colts were far from secure in their AFC South lead before Gardner's injury. The Jaguars entered Week 13 only a game behind, and the Texans two, both sporting legitimately dangerous defenses.
Now, it's a free-for-all battlefield. The Colts will be relying on shootouts to go their way, as the Seahawks and 49ers remain on their schedule with some of the best in-air offenses in the league when healthy. It's tough to see Indy winning both of those games without Gardner while also confidently beating Jacksonville twice and a fired up Texans team in their season finale. Jacksonville is essentially guaranteed to get three more wins before season's end, making those head-to-head's with them must-wins for the Colts, especially after the Texans handed them a brutal loss in Week 13.
In fact, the most dangerous out of all three teams might actually be Houston, who can legitimately complete an eight-game win streak of their own by the season finale should they take down Kansas City in Week 14. And they have all the momentum to do so behind a solid running game of their own and the best defense in the NFL.
The Colts are in legitimate danger of falling out of the playoff hunt with just one injury. Until we know how long Gardner will be out, it's all up to Jonathan Taylor and -- oh, lord -- Daniel Jones to make sure that they don't slip too far. And even then, Houston and Jacksonville might just take that opportunity away from them altogether.