One door to the playoffs was closed for the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, with the LA Chargers defeating New England. However, another still remains open–barely–with the Denver Broncos losing to the Cincinnati Bengals.
In the playoff scenario that involves the Broncos, the Colts entered Week 17 needing to win their final two games, the Broncos needing to lose their final two games, and either the Bengals or Miami Dolphins to win their final two games.
Well, two of those boxes have been checked with Denver losing and Cincinnati winning.
If things played out that way, it would create a three-way tie at 9-8 for the AFC’s final playoff spot. So instead of the Broncos having the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Colts, the new tie-breaker when there are three teams involved is conference record, which the Colts would hold, making them the final playoff seed in the AFC.
Of course, before we focus on Week 18, the Colts need to take care of their own business on Sunday and defeat the New York Giants without Anthony Richardson, who has been ruled out for this game. So Joe Flacco will get the start in a game where we should see a heavy-dose of Jonathan Taylor.
But if the Colts do win, it creates a scenario in Week 18 where Indianapolis will have to defeat Jacksonville, the Broncos will have to lose to the Chiefs, and the Bengals will have to win at Pittsburgh.
However, it’s worth noting that with the Chiefs clinching the No. 1 seed on Christmas Day, they don’t have anything to play for in Week 18, so they may not play their starters the entire game–or at all-against the Broncos.
As already mentioned, the Colts need only the Bengals or Dolphins to finish at 9-8–both isn’t a requirement–but if you’d like a buffer in Week 18, then Miami–who is likely without Tua Tagovailoa this week–defeating the Browns and then beating the Jets in Week 18 would benefit Indianapolis as well.