{"id":204114,"date":"2024-12-11T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T16:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=204114"},"modified":"2024-12-11T09:09:09","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T14:09:09","slug":"colts-have-biggest-game-of-2024-season-in-week-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/12\/11\/colts-have-biggest-game-of-2024-season-in-week-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Indianapolis Colts Set for Biggest Game of 2024 Season in Week 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

After their much-needed bye week, the Indianapolis Colts will face off against the Denver Broncos<\/a>. This matchup will be one of the biggest games of the week and the biggest game of the Colts season. The reason is that this game has massive playoff implications<\/a> for both teams. If the Broncos win, they will shore up a spot in the wild card. If the Colts win, they will put themselves in a more feasible position to sneak into the wild-card round. This is a must-win for both teams. Most importantly, though, it is a must-win for the Colts, if they want to keep their playoff hopes<\/a> alive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now, Indy sits two games behind the Broncos for that final wild-card spot. If the Colts win on Sunday, they will be one game back and will win a potential tie-break. If they were to lose, their playoff chances would essentially cease, barring a meltdown from the Chargers, Texans, or Ravens. Therefore, the big task is for the Colts to beat the Broncos in one of the most important games of the week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3 Keys to a Colts Victory Against the Broncos in Biggest Game of 2024<\/span><\/h2>\n

Jonathan Taylor<\/h3>\n

As mentioned, the running game will be huge in this matchup against the Broncos, and Jonathan Taylor<\/a> will be the X-factor. Denver has an all-around elite defense this season, and they have been particularly great against the run<\/a>. They rank sixth in rush yards per game, third in yards per rush, and first in rushing touchdowns allowed. Therefore, the Colts will have their hands full on Sunday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically, Taylor has never played against the Denver Broncos. The last time <\/a>the Colts faced off against the Broncos was in 2022 in an overtime thriller. This was a game in which Taylor was injured and did not get to play. This week’s matchup will probably be another close game with the margin for error being razor thin. The Colts will need their star running back to step up to the challenge against this tough Denver defense.<\/p>\n

Anthony Richardson<\/h3>\n

In the NFL, the quarterback is almost always the biggest key to victory. For the Colts, Anthony Richardson<\/a> is their most dynamic playmaker, and his talent needs to be exploited. This season has seen Richardson at his absolute worst<\/a>, but also at his absolute best<\/a>. He has shown that he can carry the team on his back and make play after play. However, he has also shown that he is still developing into an accurate passer and smart decision-maker. Obviously, the Colts need the best from Richardson in this game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that one of the weaker areas for the Broncos defense is their passing defense<\/a>. They rank 19th<\/sup> in passing yards per game and showed their hand big-time against Jamies Winston and the Cleveland Browns<\/a> a couple of weeks ago. In that matchup<\/a>, the Browns put up almost 500 passing yards. Richardson, certainly, will not be expected to be anywhere close to that kind of number, but their secondary is vulnerable. If there is anything that Richardson can exploit, it\u2019s a vulnerable secondary. So far this season, he has not been shy about throwing the deep ball<\/a>. Out of 512 pass attempts, 52 have been deep, which ranks fifth in the league.<\/p>\n

Laiatu Latu and the Defensive Line<\/h3>\n

The Colts first-round pick, Laiatu Latu<\/a> has gone under the radar this season. While he probably won’t win Defensive Rookie of the Year, he has made his presence known on the defensive line. Through 13 games, he has four sacks, three forced fumbles, five tackles for loss, and 12 quarterback hits. Time will tell when Latu will have his breakout game, but the Colts definitely have a good edge rusher on their hands for the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His presence will be key for this defensive line as it will look to put pressure on rookie quarterback, Bo Nix<\/a>. During his rookie season, Nix has had a solid first NFL season. He benefits from a great defense but makes plays when his team needs him the most. Nix’s numbers are not flashy, but he plays consistently and manages the game well to complement his defense.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this matchup, the Colts need to take a page out of the Baltimore Ravens playbook as they steamrolled the Broncos, 41-10 back in Week 9<\/a>. In that contest, the Ravens sacked Nick four times and got one interception off him. For this to be replicated, the Colts defensive line will need to be at an all-time best and Latu needs to make his presence known<\/a> early.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Photo: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Colts are in for a big test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5012,"featured_media":204135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[33061,266,7800,7421,6237],"class_list":["post-204114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colts","tag-anthony-richard","tag-denver-broncos","tag-indianapolis-colts-news","tag-indianapolis-colts-roster","tag-jonathan-taylor"],"modified_by":"Josh Buckhalter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204204,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204114\/revisions\/204204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}