The Indianapolis Colts and the Kansas City Chiefs will meet in Arrowhead in the divisional round of the playoffs with the winner going on to the AFC championship game and the loser going home. This is arguably the most compelling match-up in the divisional round as either team could win this game. This article will examine the three reasons why the Colts will beat the Kansas City Chiefs, which are the following: How the teams are playing in the 2nd half of the season, the defense of the Chiefs as well as the defense of the Colts. We’ll start by looking at how the teams have fared in the 2nd half of the NFL season.
Colts 2nd half vs Chiefs 2nd half
The Indianapolis Colts through their first eight games of the season were 3-5 and looked like they had no chance of making the playoffs, but in their last eight games of the regular season finished hotter than any other team in the NFL going 7-1 with their lone loss coming against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 13 of the season. A big reason for their improvement was the play of Andrew Luck as well as the play of their defense. The Kansas City Chiefs through their first eight games of the season were 7-1 and in their last eight games of the season were 5-3.
The Chiefs started the season off with a bang with their 7-1 overall record, but in the 2nd half of the season only managed to go 5-3 and lost two of their last three games to wend the season. Momentum plays a major part of a team making and winning the Super Bowl and the Indianapolis Colts have built on their momentum with their 2nd half play of the regular season as well as their play last week against the Houston Texans while the Chiefs struggled to end the season and look every bit vulnerable than they did at the midpoint of the season.
Kansas City Chiefs Defense
Of the teams remaining in the playoffs the Kansas City Chiefs may have the worst overall defense. The Chiefs rank 24th in the NFL in terms of points allowed per game which is the worst of any of the remaining playoff teams. They rank 27th in the NFL in terms of rushing yards allowed per game with 132.38 which is worst of the teams remaining in the playoffs. They also rank 31st in the NFL in terms of passing yards allowed per game with 273.12.
We see it year after year the most explosive teams end the season with good records, but the ones that lack at least an average defense fail to advance to and win the Super Bowl. The Colts rank 6th in the NFL in terms of points per game with 26.71. They rank 17th in the NFL in terms of rushing yards per game with 112.82. They rank 6th in the NFL in passing yards per game with 275.47. They Colts will put up points against a porous defense and they will put up a lot, but what about their defense?
Indianapolis Colts Defense
The Colts have an underrated defense this season and although they aren’t going to stop the Chiefs from scoring, I don’t see any team being able to do that, I do think they can limit their scoring opportunities. The Colts rank 9th in points allowed per game with 20.65. They rank 8th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game with 101.82. They rank 15th in the NFL in terms of passing yards allowed per game with 236.59.
The Indianapolis Colts arguably have the best overall team of any of the remaining playoff teams as they have an above average offense, an above average scoring defense and rushing defense and they are only average in the passing defense department. They also remain the hottest teams in the NFL going 8-1 in their last nine games. But can they really do it?
