Two weeks ago the Indianapolis Colts were stomped by division rival Tennessee on Monday night and at 3-4, things looked rather bleak. But since then, the Colts have rattled off wins over two top teams in the AFC and all of a sudden the tide is turning for a franchise that everyone expects to be a lock every year for the postseason.
Indy earned a hard-fought 24-20 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday to get to 5-4 on the season. And while they’re not a pretty 5-4, the Colts are definitely back in the playoff hunt in the AFC.
While it’s nice that Peyton Manning (21 of 40, 240 yards, 3 TDs) has shaken off some rust, the Colts can thank their defense for their back-to-back victories the past two weeks. Indy picked off Ben Roethlisberger three times on Sunday and held the Steelers to only 55 yards rushing. It’s absolutely amazing what Bob Sanders means to their defense and the play Melvin Bullitt made in the end zone at the end of the game was phenomenal.
At some point, the Colts are going to need to get their running game back on track because they’re not going to win many games when they only rush for only 62 yards. But there’s no question Indy is a dangerous team again and with Houston, San Diego, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Detroit coming up over the next month and a half, there’s no reason to think that they can’t go on a huge run.
