The Indianapolis Colts (6-6) crumbled late to the Tennessee Titans (7-5) on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in a 31-17 loss that could have very well knocked them out of the playoff race with four games remaining.

The Big Picture

Now two games behind the Houston Texans (8-4), who also hold the tiebreaker, the Colts fell hard in the playoff race. They are now in third place in the division and the ninth seed in the AFC.

In the bunch with the wild-card contenders, the Colts don’t hold any tiebreakers with the teams ahead of them. The Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 6) and Oakland Raiders (No. 8) both hold the head to head tiebreakers while the Titans (No. 7) have the better conference record.

Suffice it to say, the Colts are going to need a lot of magic to get into the playoffs with just four games remaining.

This Week’s Talking Point

The Colts are on the road visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14 for a matchup that will involve playing against Bruce Arians. With their playoff hopes dwindling down, it will be interesting to see if the Colts begin looking toward the future or if they will put everything they have into the thrusters for the remaining four games.

Having lost four of their last five games, the Colts went from a potential contender to a virtually hopeless team looking toward the future in a matter of a month.

We’ll Also Discuss

With so many injuries befalling the Colts at several areas of the roster, will some moves be made placing players on the injured reserve? Also, what are some of the areas the Colts need to address in order to better shore up the depth on the offensive and defensive side of the ball?

AFC Playoff Picture

1. Baltimore Ravens (10-2)
2. New England Patriots (10-2)
3. Houston Texans (8-4)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (8-4)
5. Buffalo Bills (9-3)
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5)
In the hunt
7. Tennessee Titans (7-5)
8. Oakland Raiders (6-6)
9. Indianapolis Colts (6-6)
10. Cleveland Browns (5-7)