Following a loss to the Houston Texans this past week, the Indianapolis Colts are back to .500 at 4-4 on the season.
So, in this week’s iteration of ESPN’s power rankings, where do the Colts end up?
The Colts entered the 2024 season at No. 18 on this list and have been as low as No. 28 following an 0-2 start, along with just about everywhere in between.
This week, the Colts dropped slightly, moving from No. 20 overall heading into Week 8 to now No. 21.
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.
As the Colts often do, they found themselves in a close game that came down to the wire. Overall, the defense did its job in this game, getting after CJ Stroud and not letting Joe Mixon take the game over like he did in Week 1.
However, ultimately the Colts’ passing game woes were too much to overcome. Having Jonathan Taylor back certainly helped provided needed stability to the offense, but in today’s NFL, moving the ball solely on the ground is a tough way to win.
This week, the Colts will have a new quarterback under center. It was reported on Tuesday that Indianapolis will be benching Anthony Richardson in favor of the veteran Joe Flacco.
In three previous games this season, Flacco has completed 65.7 percent of his passes at a modest 6.6 yards per attempt with seven touchdowns to one interception.
On both sides of the ball, this will prove to be a difficult matchup for the Colts. The Minnesota defense is one of the best at generating pressure and often does so through blitzes that they disguise quite well.
The Vikings’ offense also ranks seventh in points per game scored and 11th in yards per play.
At 5-2 on the year, Minnesota comes in at No. 9 in ESPN’s Week 9 power rankings. They are coming off a Thursday night loss to the LA Rams.