Musings of an Old Sportswriter...

On the Colts' brutal finishing stretch, Michael Badgley's inaccuracy and the Pacers' low blow directed at Myles Turner. And other stuff.

Musings…

• Now the real season starts for the Indianapolis Colts. Now the schedule gets tough, even brutal, the fourth-toughest schedule in the league in these final seven games. They travel to Kansas City this weekend and have upcoming games at Seattle, home against San Francisco and the much-feared game in Jacksonville, the Colts’ personal house or horrors. Oh, and Houston is hanging around, although their quarterback situation is currently unsettled.

With the playoff run beginning, the Colts have sent a message that’s surely resonated in the locker room because it was THE STORY of the trade deadline: They dealt two first round draft picks and AD Mitchell to the Jets for All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner. The Colts are going for it, believing their Super Bowl window has opened with Daniel Jones having resurrected his career in Indianapolis. It’s also a sign they’re all-in on Jones as the quarterback of the present and the future; otherwise they wouldn’t have parted with two first rounders.

And why not the Colts? There are no dominant teams in the AFC. The Bills keep messing around and losing games they aren’t supposed to lose. The Baltimore Ravens remain scary and figure to make a late-season run at a playoff spot, but they’re still climbing the ladder out of the abyss and have no room for error. The Chiefs have the championship pedigree their Super Bowl, but they’ve suddenly and inexplicably forgotten how to win one-possession games. Both the Broncos and Patriots are in the midst of long winning streaks, but the Colts beat the Broncos earlier this year (barely) and New England, even with Drake Maybe, doesn’t particularly scare me.

The Colts? They have one of the league’s most prolific offenses, leading or close tot he top in every statistical category. The defense will be hurt by the loss of DeForest Buckner to injury, but Gardner’s presence, along with Charvarius Ward and Kenny Moore give the Colts a chance to field the best secondary in the league. In a conference filled with elite quarterbacks, that’s no small matter.

The Colts want to be playing their best football in November, December and January, but given the teams they will have to play, a 4-3 stretch would be more than enough to win the AFC South (easily) and secure the first-round bye. Shoot, 3-4 wouldn’t be the end of the world, although the Colts want to have some kind of momentum heading into the post-season.

It all starts this Sunday in Kansas City, where the Colts have had uncommon success against the best team of the decade. That said, the Chiefs, at 5-5, are in desperate straits after losing last week to Denver. This is not necessarily the time you want to be facing them. (Like there’s a good time.)

Give me the Chiefs in a close one.