Following the Indianapolis Colts’ final regular season matchup on January 8, the team released its home and road opponents for the 2023 season.
In addition to their usual home-and-away AFC South divisional slate against the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts will face teams from the AFC North and NFC South.
Indianapolis finished third in the AFC South, meaning it will play “crossover games” against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots, who each placed third within their own divisions.
The Colts’ 2023 opponents managed a 105-131-1 record in 2022, giving the team a favorable upcoming schedule in terms of difficulty.
The full schedule, which includes game times and dates, will be released this spring. For the past three years, the schedule has been revealed in May.
Indianapolis ended the season with a substandard 4-12-1 record capped off by a Week 18 loss to the Texans, who finished with the second-worst record in the NFL (3-13-1). As a result of the loss and the Denver Broncos’ win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Colts secured the No. 4 overall pick in the upcoming draft.
2022 marked the Colts’ worst year since 2017, when the team finished 4-12 and then-head coach Chuck Pagano was fired.
Colts’ 2023 Home Opponents
Since the NFL expanded its game schedule in 2021, each team has played 17 games. That trend will continue in 2023, with the Colts hosting nine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Colts will welcome its three AFC South foes as well as the Raiders, Rams, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Only the Jaguars and Steelers finished 2022 with winning records, and Jacksonville and Tampa Bay are the two lone 2022 playoff teams on this list.
This season, the Steelers visited Indianapolis on November 28 and left victorious. That game marked the Colts’ second loss within their seven-game losing streak to end 2022.
Indianapolis also played the Raiders this season but on the road. The Colts edged the Raiders 25-20 on November 13 — the team’s last win of the season before losing out to cap off a disappointing campaign. It also marked the first and only win of interim head coach Jeff Saturday’s tenure with the Colts.
Colts’ 2023 Away Opponents
Every NFL road game is tough, but when considering matchups, the Colts’ away opponents seem more difficult.
Indianapolis will, again, play each AFC South team and also hit the road to face the Patriots, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens, the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers.
Of the eight road contests the Colts will play, three are against current playoff teams: the aforementioned Jaguars, Bengals and Ravens. The Patriots came up just short of a winning record, going 8-9 and narrowly missing the postseason with a Week 18 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
The Colts played the Patriots at Gillette Stadium this past November, and they’ll have to return to do the same next fall. Out of the many losses the Colts endured in 2022, the Patriots’ defeat was among the worst.
In that game, Indianapolis put up just three points, 121 total yards and went 0-for-14 on third down — the last straw before Colts owner Jim Irsay decided to move on from Frank Reich as head coach.
What’s to be seen is who will lead the Colts into the offseason and 2023 campaign as head coach. Jim Harbaugh is still a candidate despite “expecting” to return as head coach of the University of Michigan. Irsay has also said that Saturday, among others, will be considered for the full-time job — even with a 1-7 record.
No matter who takes the reins, decisions await and the Colts have a long offseason ahead of them.
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Indianapolis Colts Announce 2023 Home & Away Opponents