The Colts have fallen from the division leaders to missing the playoffs in quick time!
Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
The injury to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones could not have come at a worse time as the race to the playoffs becomes more and more tight. Along with running back Jonathan Taylor, Jones has been one of the brightest lights on this Colts team since the start of the season.
Unfortunately, though, the former Giants’ signal caller, who had already been playing through a left fibula injury, went down in the Week 14 game against the Jaguars with an Achilles tear and is now expected to miss the rest of the season.
So, what does that mean for the AFC South franchise, and how big a blow is this for the team expected to make the postseason easily at one point in time?
Daniel Jones with the Colts in 2025
Anyone who has been following football over the past few seasons must have a fair idea of how Daniel Jones’ career started in New York with the Giants and how he requested an exit following his benching last year. Since then, Jones has come a long way in a very short amount of time.
The Daniel Jones that took the field with the Colts this offseason turned out to be a completely different player from his previous years. Not only did he breathe life into the struggling Colts team, but he also planted Indianapolis as a team to watch out for during the initial 10 weeks of the season.
And despite the Colts’ recent struggles, where they have now dropped 3 games in a row, Jones still ranks 6th in the league in passing yards (3,041), 8th in the league in completion percentage (67.9%), tied 7th with 19 touchdowns, and 8th in the league in passer rating (101.3).
But it is not just all the stats that the veteran signal caller has brought to this team. Being the commander of the offense under center, Jones has brought in new leadership and has looked ever so comfortable in Shane Steichen’s system, so much so that the Colts would have had a decent chance of making the postseason had he not gotten injured.
Indianapolis Colts Odds of Making the Playoffs
Following the loss to the Jaguars on Sunday, the Colts’ chances of making the playoffs are now all the way down to 41% as per the official NFL website. This, however, is without consideration of Jones and his potential season-ending injury.
Indianapolis, which belongs to the AFC South, has now dropped to the third position after the Texans defeated the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football (SNF). That means, the Colts just plummeted as division leaders to third within a blink of an eye. In fact, after falling to the number 8 seed in the NFC, the Colts have +245 odds to make the postseason as per FanDuel.
Of course, Indianapolis can still make the playoffs if it ends up winning more games than both the Jaguars and the Texans, but with Jones out, that will be a tall order for rookie Riley Leonard.
Additionally, the Colts’ remaining schedule is not getting any easier with their remaining games coming up against tough opposition, starting with the Seahawks in Week 15, followed by the 49ers, Jaguars, and Texans.
That’s two games against the NFC West teams, currently with 10 and 9 wins, respectively, as well as two divisional games against teams currently on 4 and 5-game win streaks, respectively. Thus, as great a start as the Colts had to their 2025-26 season, their hopes of making the playoffs have taken a massive hit, and it is looking more likely that Indy will have to wait another year for postseason football.
Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!
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