The Indianapolis Colts are coming off their bye week, so as we begin to turn our focus to Week 15, where do they sit in ESPN’s latest edition of their power rankings?
Last week, after a last-second win over New England, the Colts reached their highest point in these power rankings since Week 1, sitting at No. 18 overall.
At various points this season, Indianapolis has been as low as No. 28 in ESPN’s power rankings and have been just about everywhere else between there and the 18th spot.
This week, the Colts fell two spots, despite not playing a game, to 20th overall.
Determining these rankings for ESPN are more than 80 writers, editors, and TV personalities evaluating each team’s performance and then ranking them from 1-32.
At 6-7, the Colts playoff hopes are still alive, but they find themselves in what is essentially a must-win game against Denver on Sunday.
The Colts trail the 8-5 Broncos by two games for the AFC’s final wildcard spot. A win, and the Colts will be just one game back with the easiest remaining schedule in football and hold the head-to-head tie-breaker.
A loss, however, and they will trail the Broncos by three games with three games to go and Denver holding the tie-breaker. At this point, a collapse by either Baltimore or the LA Chargers would be required for the Colts to make the playoffs.
The New York Times playoff simulator gives the Colts just a 9% chance of making the playoffs if they lose to the Broncos.
Denver currently sits at No. 12 in ESPN’s power rankings heading into Week 15. They also had their bye in Week 14.