Following the Indianapolis Colts’ Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers, they now find themselves at the dreaded 0-2 mark.
While there are still 15 games remaining on the NFL schedule and, in theory, plenty of time to turn things around, the last 30-plus years of NFL history is working against the Colts when it comes to making the playoffs.
Prior to Sunday’s games taking place, Ari Meirov of the 33rd Football Team noted that since 1990, 279 teams have started their season 0-2 and only 32 of them have turned it around and made the playoffs that season. If you’re without a calculator, that’s just over 11 percent of those teams.
Of course, there is the caveat that what happened to those teams has no direct impact on the Colts’ 2024 season, but those numbers do speak for themselves and illustrate the uphill battle that awaits Indianapolis.
If there is going to be a turnaround that takes place this season, it has to begin with the run defense significantly improving. As we’ve seen the last two games, when the run defense is performing poorly, there is just too much to overcome with the negative trickle-down effect that has to the rest of the team.
Success on the ground gives the opponent the schematic advantage when routinely playing in short down-and-distance situations. It also allows the opposing offense to control the time of possession, reducing the number of opportunities the Colts offense has while also wearing out the defense.
Then on top of all that, it has forced the Colts to play from behind for much of the first two games–further impacting their offense, which is going through it’s own growing pains as Anthony Richardson gets more reps.
In short, and generally speaking, you just don’t see teams with bad run defenses in the playoffs for these reasons.
Never say never, but statistically speaking, the odds are stacked against the Colts right now when it comes to their playoff hopes this season.