Colts' 2023 Season Puts NFL Betting Experts to Shame
The Indianapolis Colts came into 2023 with few expectations under first-year head coach Shane Steichen.
This low-bar projection largely was due to a 4-12-1 finish that featured awful football and league-wide drama in Indy the previous campaign.
While many put the Colts around six wins, Steichen's troops and a new offensive coaching staff helped propel the team to 9-8. Along with this, they nearly won the AFC South and barely missed the postseason.
Kentucky sports betting recently took notice of Indy's bright future and why the nine wins are significant in Bet Kentucky's "Colts Among NFL's Biggest Win Overachievers This Season" article.
"The 2023-24 NFL regular season may have ended with Indianapolis missing out on the playoffs for the third straight year, but it wasn’t without its share of hope for fans in the Hoosier State.
Thanks to the Colts’ 9-8 campaign, the Shane Steichen-coached team was able to find itself among the NFL’s leaders in terms of clearing their Kentucky sports betting preseason win total over/under.
While the Colts were outscored by 19 points overall this season, there’s no denying they did play better, with a sizable surge in offense (23.3 points per game, up from 17 in 2022) and a modest improvement in scoring defense (from 25.1 PPG to 24.4 PPG)."
Steichen was a massive catalyst for getting Indianapolis past their preseason assumptions. Betting predictions on the number of victories were likely made thinking that quarterback Anthony Richardson would start for the year under center.
Unfortunately, it didn't go down this way, as Richardson would barely see the field after sustaining multiple injuries. Instead, backup veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew primarily led the offense.
Other notable names joined Richardson with injuries and significant time missed. Some players were tight end Jelani Woods, running back Jonathan Taylor, right tackle Braden Smith, and cornerback Dallis Flowers.
The young Colts roster also featured several starting rookies (cornerbacks JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones, wide receiver Josh Downs, and tackle Blake Freeland) and backups (cornerback Darrell Baker Jr., tight end Kylen Granson, and quarterback Minshew). These situations put the nine wins past the on-paper value.
The Bottom Line
Steichen had the Colts looking and feeling different in 2023. Even with injuries and inexperience, they were better on nearly every front. If Richardson and the rest of this roster can repel the injury bug in 2024, they may be playoff-bound and push the division leaders like the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans for the AFC South title.
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