Following Sunday’s loss to Detroit, the Indianapolis Colts now sit at 5-7 on the season, barely hanging on to their playoff hopes.
Up next is a matchup with the 3-9 New England Patriots, a game that is essentially a must-win for Indianapolis.
At 5-7, the Colts are the ninth seed in the AFC, a full two games behind the seventh seed Denver Broncos who sit at 7-5 on the season. They are also 2.5 games behind the sixth seed 7-4 Los Angeles Chargers.
The Miami Dolphins are the eighth seed at 5-6 and the Cincinnati Bengals are the 10th seed at 4-7.
According to NFL.com, the Colts current playoff probability is just 22 percent. A win over the Patriots provides a little help, boosting their chances to 31 percent, but a loss all but tanks any hope that might remain, dropping their odds to just 10 percent if that occurs.
If you’re still holding out hope, the Colts have one of the easiest remaining schedules in football. Of the five games they have left, four of them come against teams with just two or three wins.
The one matchup that they have against a team over .500 is the aforementioned Broncos, which would allow to make up a full game on Denver with a win.
With five games to go, the Colts are also two games back of Houston in the AFC South standings–although because the Texans hold the head-to-head tie-breaker, the Colts would need to pick up three games in these final weeks to win the division outright.
