Indianapolis Colts at Oakland Raiders: What to Watch For

By Fansided and Evan Reller/FanSided via Horseshoe Heroes
Published

The Indianapolis Colts are on the road again to face the Oakland Raiders on Christmas Eve this Saturday.

There is a very real chance that the Colts will have absolutely nothing left to play for by the time they take the field on Saturday afternoon. They can sort of play spoiler to the Raiders, but they’ll still make the playoffs even with a loss (but probably won’t end up with the two seed).

The Colts need the 2-11 Jaguars to defeat the Titans in order for the Colts playoffs hopes to live. At least the game is at Jacksonville, if that’s worth anything.

The most disappoint thing about this season, and there are so many to choose from, is that the Colts had it well it hand multiple times and completely blew their chances. They should have beaten the Lions in Week 1. They realistically should have beaten the Jags in London. They had the game against the Texans in Houston locked up and choked it away. And should have easily stepped on the Texans in Indy to lock up the division.

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    They managed picked up unlikely wins in Green Bay and Minnesota. But it didn’t matter because of those ugly losses.

    For years the Colts have dominated a terrible division, but those teams got slightly less terrible over the past couple years and it has made all the difference. The Colts aren’t a good team. They have a few good to great players, but they aren’t the kind of guys who make you change your entire gameplan to beat them. And before you disagree, Peyton Manning was that guy. The AFCS teams built heavy rushing attacks to keep him off the field and stocked up on defense to try and beat him. But it didn’t work.

    Andrew Luck has had a fantastic season, it’s a shame he was snubbed for the Pro Bowl (but will likely go as an alternate). But his supporting cast on both sides of the ball is lacking.

    All of that said, there is still a chance and the Colts could once again be playing for coach Chuck Pagano’s job, for whatever that’s worth.

    Here’s what fans should be watching for:

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