Peter King Has Bombshell Prediction for Colts
Things are not good in Colts Country.
An offseason of soul-searching and a fiery intention on winning from owner Jim Irsay were the catalyst for some hefty moves that brought expectations of a potential postseason run.
Adding proven veteran assets at quarterback, edge rusher, and cornerback should yield positive results. However, the Indianapolis Colts have begun the season with a record of 1-2-1, with the two losses and tie coming against their three AFC South counterparts.
Thoughts of the playoffs are an afterthought for now, as the Colts are just hoping to get things back on track and bring home only their second win in five tries this week as they travel west to Colorado to take on the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football.
However, if the Colts lose to the Broncos — at least in the sluggish, uninspiring fashion that they have been this season — then we could be close to a breaking point.
"Jim Irsay is not going to stand for this. He really isn’t," Peter King said in his latest Football Morning in America column. "I can feel him fixing to blow from here."
King would later continue, referencing the Colts' latest loss last Sunday to the Tennessee Titans.
"The Colts are in trouble," King said. "Rushing for just 3.5 yards a carry and getting Matt Ryan beat up, and trust me, the owner is stewing over being 0-2-1 in the division – with a win over Kansas City..."
Being in an early-season hole is nothing new for the Colts. They started 1-4 last year and 1-5 in 2018. However, it's the way that they're performing this season, especially after an offseason with such a fervent emphasis on starting the season and games firing on all cylinders.
“Yeah, I don't even know how to respond to that," head coach Frank Reich responded on Sunday when asked what else can be done about avoiding slow starts. "It's a fair question. The results are what they are. I'd say it's still a relatively small sample size. I don't know if it's – we'll fight to get better, but point taken.”
All but one of the Colts' matchups — a shocking Week 3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs — have come against the AFC South. They are winless in those contests, holding a deficit of at least 17 points in each, and they are winless in their last four division games overall dating back to 2021.
“That is ridiculous," Colts running back Nyheim Hines said of the large deficits in each division game. "Defense is playing well, but offense, we have to find a way to get better. It’s not that complicated. The offense has to get better. It was 24-3 at halftime? That is ridiculous. We can not keep doing that. Obviously, we have a great team and keep coming back and almost coming back. That is not a position you want to be in. You are playing against other professionals who are just as good as us who can execute.”
What makes matters worse is that some of the Colts' biggest issues in gameplay that we are seeing now are the same as what doomed them at the end of the 2021 season when they dropped the final two games against two very beatable, and a win against either would've punched their ticket to the postseason.
The Colts — especially Irsay — talk about having success in the AFC South frequently, as winning the division is always one of their first big goals for each season. And for the longest time, the Colts were kings of the AFC South. Peyton Manning owned them, and it was the same when the Colts drafted Andrew Luck.
Between 2012-18, Luck's Colts were 24-7 (77.4%) against division opponents including a record of 11-0 against Tennessee, who they now have lost five of their last six games against.
In the three-plus years since Luck's retirement, the Colts are now 10-10-1 (47.6%) against the division, including a combined 5-9 (35.7%) against the Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Things are bad enough that Colts alumni have taken notice. This week, the franchise's all-time sack leader, Robert Mathis, took to Twitter to share his thoughts.
"This one hurts," Mathis said after the loss to the Titans. "These literally used to be stat games for us. Hey let’s take our medicine now and push on to Thursday Night Football."
Former long snapper Matt Overton echoed the same sentiment as Mathis.
"Now I haven’t been in that Colts locker room since 2016 and this is just my perspective as a fan," Overton began. "During my time, we never had a doubt about a divisional opponent. Sure we lost some games here and there but the mindset was we owed the AFC South. That seems to have changed."
The fan base has begun talking more and more about Reich and general manager Chris Ballard being on the hot seat with each flat performance that the Colts execute, and it's easy to see why.
King feels as if things could blow soon if the Colts' product on the field doesn't change. What that means specifically remains to be seen.
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