Awaiting the Indianapolis Colts out of the bye week are the Denver Broncos in what will be a playoff-like matchup.
The 6-7 Colts trail the 8-5 Broncos by two games for the AFC’s final wildcard spot. A win and Indianapolis will be only one game back, hold the head-to-head tie-breaker, and have the NFL easiest remaining schedule.
A loss, however, and the New York Times playoff simulator puts the Colts’ playoff chances at only 9%.
While, as we all know, the game isn’t played on paper, these stats at this stage of the season do carry some weight and can give us some insight into who has the advantage in key areas.
In an effort to keep things somewhat simple, I boiled this article down to the need-to-know statistics for this matchup. This includes the run game performance, passing game performance, pressures, turnovers, third down and red zone success, and points.
With help from Team Rankings and Pro Football Reference here is how the Colts matchup stat-wise in a few key categories with the Broncos:
| IND | DEN | |
| Points per game | 20.5 (22nd) | 23.5 (14th) |
| Points per game allowed | 22.9 (18th) | 18.0 (T2) |
| Yards per rush | 4.4 (12th) | 4.2 (19th) |
| Yards per rush allowed | 4.6 (21st) | 3.8 (3rd) |
| Yards per pass attempt | 7.0 (20th) | 6.6 (23rd) |
| Yards per pass attempt allowed | 7.1 (27th) | 6.1 (4th) |
| Pressure rate allowed by OL | 22.6% (20th) | 18.1% (7th) |
| Pressure rate by defense | 23.8% (11th) | 27.1% (3rd) |
| Turnover differential | -2 (T16) | +3 (T11) |
| Third down conversion rate | 36.7% (23rd) | 37.9% (18th) |
| Defensive third down conversion rate | 45.3% (29th) | 37.4% (16th) |
| Red zone success rate | 55.0% (T17) | 56.8% (15th) |
| Defensive red zone success rate | 56.0% (17th) | 43.3% (2nd) |