Indianapolis Colts Football

ON TO 2013

The Super Bowl is over.  College All-Star games are in the books and the NFL calendar ticks furiously toward the coming season.

The next major thing on the NFL landscape is the Combine in Indianapolis on February 20-26.  Free agency starts on March 12, and the draft is April 25-27.  Tick, tick, tick.

The draft order is set with Kansas City first and Baltimore last.  The Colts are nestled at 24^th, and the NFL released the strength of schedule this week in conjunction with the official draft order.

The Colts’ 2013 opponents earned a 113-143 record this past season for a .441 winning percentage.

On paper, it makes the club’s schedule the third-easiest for the coming season.  Atlanta’s opponents had a .422 percentage (108-148), while Cincinnati’s were .438 (112-144).

Twelve of the 32 teams will play a schedule this year against teams with winning percentages below .500 from 2012.

Any chance games will be played on paper?  Didn’t think so.

One constant with the NFL is change.  What appears to be a bargain based on the past can be a mirage.

Coming off a 2-14 season in 2011, playing the Colts looked beneficial as an opponent in 2012.  Indianapolis went 11-5.

In 1998, the Colts were scheduled to play Atlanta on December 6.  The Falcons never had posted consecutive winning seasons and a young Colts team that might have seen Atlanta as a potential advantageous opponent late in the season instead found a 10-2 unit that was on the way to the Super Bowl.

Those are two of many stark examples of how perception is different than reality in the NFL.

The Colts won’t point to a combined .441 winning percentage of upcoming opponents.  Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano both say the bar is set high.  The team will keep the same mindset as last year and respect the process of preparing.

The Colts’ 2013 opponents are (Underlined denotes made playoffs):  HOME:  Houston, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Denver, Oakland, St. Louis, Seattle and Miami;  ROAD:  Houston, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Kansas City, San Diego, Arizona, San Francisco and Cincinnati.

NFL DRAFT ORDER

Pick, Team, 2012 Record, W-L Record of 2013 opponents

1 – Kansas City, 2-14, 132-124 (.516)

2 – Jacksonville, 2-14, 138-118 (.539)

3 – Oakland, 4-12, 120-136 (.469)

4 – Philadelphia, 4-12, 130-126 (.508)

5 – Detroit, 4-12, 144-110-2 (.566)

6 – Cleveland, 5-11, 130-126 (.508)

7 – Arizona, 5-11, 141-111-4 (.559)

8 – Buffalo, 6-10, 122-132-2 (.480)

9 – New York Jets, 6-10, 130-124-2 (.512)

10 – Tennessee, 6-10, 131-125 (.512)

11 – San Diego, 7-9, 117-139 (.457)

12 – Miami, 7-9, 127-127-2 (.500)

13 – Tampa Bay, 7-9, 128-127-1 (.502)

14 – Carolina, 7-9, 132-124 (.516)

15 – New Orleans, 7-9, 133-122-1 (.521)

16 – St. Louis, 7-8-1, 137-117-2 (.539)

17 – Pittsburgh, 8-8, 119-137 (.465)

18 – Dallas, 8-8, 134-122 (.523)

19 – New York Giants, 9-7, 133-122-1 (.521)

20 – Chicago, 10-6, 130-124-2 (.512)

21 – Cincinnati, 10-6, 112-144 (.438)

22 – Washington#, 10-6, 126-129-1 (.494)

23 – Minnesota, 10-6, 132-122-2 (.520)

24 – COLTS, 11-5, 113-143 (.441)

25 – Seattle, 11-5, 127-125-4 (.504)

26 – Green Bay, 11-5, 129-125-2 (.508)

27 – Houston, 12-4, 127-129 (.496)

28 – Denver, 13-3, 117-139 (.457)

29 – New England, 12-4, 126-128-2 (.496)

30 – Atlanta, 13-3, 108-148 (.422)

31 – San Francisco, 11-4-1, 128-126-2 (.504)

32 – Baltimore, 10-6, 127-129 (.496)

#Choice dealt to St. Louis