Breaking down the 2024 Indianapolis Colts schedule
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The Colts will travel fewer miles than nearly every other team in the NFL over the course of the 2024 season.
Why it matters: The light travel schedule could work in Indianapolis' favor as the team comes back from an injury-tainted 2023 season that ended with the AFC South crown eluding them by four points.
- The Colts haven't made the playoffs since 2020.
State of play: The Colts will travel just 11,497 miles this season, the third shortest travel schedule in the NFL.
- They also face the 10th-easiest slate of opponents, according to teams' records from last season.
Flashback: Last year, the Colts only left the eastern time zone twice and had the shortest travel schedule in the league at 7,833 miles.
Zoom in: The Colts begin the 2024 season at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosting the Houston Texans on Sept. 8 in a hot Week 1 rivalry game.
- The home opener is also a rematch of the final game of 2023's regular season, which decided the fate of the AFC South champion.
- The Colts play the Texans again on Oct. 27. Other division games are Oct. 13 and Dec. 22 against the Tennessee Titans, and Oct. 6 and Jan. 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The big screen: Indianapolis landed only one prime-time game, a Sunday Night Football road matchup with the New York Jets on Nov. 17.
- Yes, but: Start times for Week 17 and Week 18 games against the Giants and the Jaguars are still TBD.
What we're watching: How quarterback Anthony Richardson will bounce back from a shoulder injury that ended his 2023 season in Week 5 after four starts as a rookie.
Plus: The Colts have been deemed the most athletic team in the NFL by Relative Athletic Score, an assessment that compares a player's athleticism to the rest of his position group.
- Kent Lee Platte, the inventor of RAS, put the Colts at the top of his most recent team rankings with a score of 8.39 out of 10.
The bottom line: The 10th-easiest schedule isn't the 1st-easiest, and that shows in the odds. Las Vegas currently projects Indianapolis' win total odds at 8.5 games in 2024, a lateral move from the 9-8 record they ended with last season.
The Colts' 2024 schedule
Week 1: vs. Houston
Week 2: at Green Bay
Week 3: vs. Chicago
Week 4: vs. Pittsburgh
Week 5: at Jacksonville
Week 6: at Tennessee
Week 7: vs. Miami
Week 8: at Houston
Week 9: at Minnesota
Week 10: vs. Buffalo
Week 11: at N.Y. Jets
Week 12: vs. Detroit
Week 13: at New England
Week 14: Bye
Week 15: at Denver
Week 16: vs. Tennessee
Week 17: at N.Y. Giants
Week 18: vs. Jacksonville