Colts Tumble in Week 17 NFL Power Rankings
The Indianapolis Colts were dominated on the road by an Atlanta Falcons team that had been playing inconsistently throughout the season.
The Falcons lost the previous week to the lowly Carolina Panthers, but they played a complete game against a battle-weary Colts team firing on less than all cylinders.
NFL.com's Eric Edholm seemed to realize it was one of those days for the Colts who were missing Michael Pittman (concussion) and Zack Moss (arm). He only dropped the Colts two spots from No. 13 to No. 5 in his power rankings this week.
"After building up so much goodwill with the 5-1 stretch that started in November, the Colts fell flat in the 29-10 loss to the Falcons," wrote Edholm on NFL.com. "Like in Week 14's 34-14 loss at Cincinnati, Indianapolis was exposed on the road by a competitive team starting its backup quarterback.
"Gardner Minshew (a replacement QB himself) and Indy's offense struggled after the opening-drive TD, punting on their next four drives. In the fourth quarter, the Colts sandwiched two turnovers on downs around a back-breaking interception. But the defense came up small, too, seeing its 19-game takeaway streak end and registering just one sack of Taylor Heinicke (for no loss) after racking up 25 of them in the previous six games.
"The Colts have well surpassed many folks' preseason expectations in Year 1 under Shane Steichen, but the feel-good season might be petering out at the very end."
It feels as if head coach Shane Steichen's offense has been overachieving much of the season. The offense having an off game considering the strength of the Falcons' defense and the injuries wasn't a huge surprise. Though giving up six sacks to the Falcons anemic-pass rush was a bit startling.
However, the defensive side of the ball was a bigger disappointment for the Colts. The Colts were routinely gashed up the middle by the Falcons' running game. A unit that entered the game with 46 sacks failed to pressure Heinicke throughout the game.
The Colts are currently sitting in the final-playoff spot in the AFC as the No. 7 seed. Their margin for error is down to zero with the Texans, Steelers, and Bengals joining them at 8-7.
Indianapolis hosts the revitalized Las Vegas Raiders this weekend before finishing their regular season against the Houston Texans.
The Colts control their own destiny, but they're going to have to play better than they did in Atlanta to close a surprisingly-successful regular season with a playoff berth.
