In a bit of a scheduling quirk, the Indianapolis Colts’ Week 15 matchup with the Denver Broncos will be the second time in 2024 that these two teams have played each other. The first game came during the preseason at Lucas Oil Stadium.
While it’s happened before that two teams who played each other in the preseason faced off again in the regular season, it isn’t a common occurrence.
The Colts opened up their 2024 preseason schedule at home against these Broncos. The Broncos would go on to win 34-30, putting up 410 yards of offense to the Colts’ 283.
Anthony Richardson made a brief appearance, completing 2-of-4 passes for 25 yards. Most of the Colts’ starters on offense and defense would play the first two series in this game.
Fellow quarterback Jason Bean would lead Indianapolis in rushing, DJ Montgomery led the team in receiving with 45 yards, while Grant Stuard totaled the most tackles.
On the other side of the ball, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix would put together an efficient performance, completing 15-of-21 passes for 125 yards with a touchdown. Courtland Sutton would lead Denver in receiving with 35 yards on two receptions.
Since then, Nix has gone on to have an impressive rookie season while Sutton leads the Broncos in receiving.
Of course, to state the obvious, there isn’t anything that we can really glean from this game when looking ahead to Sunday’s pivotal Week 15 matchup.
In any preseason game, teams are going to show the bare minimum when it comes to their scheme, not wanting to put anything on film, and I would imagine that both Shane Steichen and Sean Payton were particularly careful in this matchup, knowing that their two teams would meet down the road in the regular season.
Now fast forward several months and for the Colts, the stakes couldn’t be any higher in what is a playoff-like game for them.
With a loss, their playoff chances sit at only 9%, according to the New York Times playoff simulator. However, a win gets them to 7-7 and only one game behind Denver for the AFC’s final playoff spot, while holding the head-to-head tie-breaker, along with having the NFL’s easiest remaining strength of schedule.
