The Indianapolis Colts are returning nearly their entire 2023 roster that saw a failed 4th down conversion take away their chance of being crowned the champions of the AFC South.
And now Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated has named the Colts his "Dark Horse" team to make a Super Bowl run in 2024.
Breer answered questions from fans in his recent piece. One of those questions asked whim what team(s) he thinks are dark horses for a Super Bowl run in 2024. He had the following to say about why his answer in the AFC is the Colts.
"I think I'd go with the Colts. They went 9-8 last year, in Year 1 under Shane Steichen and with Gardner Minshew II at quarterback. The staff returns largely intact, and Anthony Richardson is back from injury. And we've seen quarterbacks in this sort of spot explode in their second year."
- Albert Breer
Breer's final statement there, saying, "We've seen quarterbacks in this sort of spot explode in their second year," makes me think of a recent situation that seems awfully similar.
The Cincinnati Bengals drafted QB Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Burrow's rookie season ended with him tearing his ACL and MCL in his left knee. The following year, in 2021, Burrow returned from injury to start all 16 of the team's regular-season games, leading the Bengals to a 10-6 season, which won them the AFC North and earned the fourth seed in the AFC. They went on to defeat the fifth-seed Las Vegas Raiders in the Wildcard round, the number-one-seed Tennessee Titans in the Divisonal round, and the second-seed Kansas City Chiefs to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. There, they fell to the Los Angeles Rams.
This situation isn't a perfect comparison by any means; for example, Burrow played ten games during his rookie season, while Anthony Richardon only appeared in four. But on the flip side, the Bengals only won four games in 2020, the year prior to making their run to the Super Bowl; the Colts won nine games last season and are returning every projected starter on the team's roster in 2024.
All of this is to say crazier things have happened in the NFL. So, I don't see any reason why Breer's bold prediction for the Colts is by any means far-fetched. A big component that needs to happen for Breer to be proved right, though, is Richardson has to stay healthy, and he needs to have a similar type of second season as Burrow that led to him winning the 2021 Comeback Player of the Year award after returning from injury.
