With one week left in the regular season and following a devastating loss to the New York Giants, where do the Indianapolis Colts now fall in ESPN’s Week 18 power rankings?
As I’m sure you can guess, the Colts took a tumble this week, but perhaps not as much as you’d expect dropping from No. 21 to No. 22 as they now sit at 7-9 on the season and eliminated from playoff contention.
This is roughly where the Colts have spent much of the season in these rankings. We’ve seen the Colts ranked as high as 18th, and that came just a few weeks ago following their win over New England. However, we’ve also seen them as low as 28th following an 0-2 start, and they’ve really been everywhere in between this season.
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.
The loss on Sunday to the New York Giants was reminiscent of one from the 2021 season when they face another two-win team, that time the Jaguars, with the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot with a win, but instead lost by multiple scores.
We’ve spent the last several days dissecting the performance and, in short, given the circumstances with the Colts needing to win and the opponent, a Giants’ offense that was one of the worst in football, that simply cannot happen.
Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley summed things up well, calling it “embarrassing,” while DeForest Buckner didn’t hold back saying “there’s going to be some changes,” hinting at the offseason ahead.
However, before we get to that point, there is one game left to be played against the Jaguars. At 4-12 on the season, the Jaguars are now No. 25 in ESPN’s rankings, jumping up from No. 30 after a Week 17 win over the Titans.
