Colts opponents for 2013 season.
The 2012 regular season is in the books and while the Colts prepare for the playoffs, the NFL released the opponents they will be facing next season:
Home: Houston, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Denver, Oakland, Miami, Seattle, St. Louis
Away: Houston, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Kansas City, San Diego, Cincinnati, Arizona, San Francisco
After an 11-5 season, the expectations will certainly be very high. The Colts could very well win the AFC South next year. There are some great match ups outside the division too (Oakland, Miami, Arizona, Kansas City) . Another 10+ win season isn't impossible. Playing the 49ers in San Francisco looks pretty scary but it will be a nice test for the Colts.
Of course, there's one particular game that will be really special for Indy and that's Peyton Manning's return to Lucas Oil Stadium.
That will certainly be a very emotional day for players, fans and Manning himself. I know a lot of people that stopped rooting for the Colts after March 8th and decided to follow the greatest QB of all time to Denver.
Today it's really tough to blame Jim Irsay for the decision to cut Manning and take Luck to start a new era. The Colts just won 11 games and they made it back to the playoffs.
However, the city of Indianapolis still cares a lot about Peyton Manning. Expect some sort of tribute, standing ovation or a parade. Irsay might even unveil a monument (he should). He deserves all of that anyway.
It will be the biggest game of the season for the Colts and one of the most expected games of the entire season for the NFL.
The 2013 season promises lots of great games for the Colts and some pretty special moments too.
I can already predict vs. Broncos will be on SNF, a divisional game (Jax/Hou) on TNF, and vs. Seattle will likely be on primetime. Speaking of vs. Seattle, I'm just glad it's at home and not in Quest...coulda been a scary matchup.
That game against the Broncos is going to be weird for me. I've been able to kind of keep the two separate and not think about it much. Hopefully, both teams will be doing great. It'd make a fabulous Monday night game.
Looking forward to some MNF/SNF games next year too. The days of Peyton and five primetime games every year spoiled me -- and they're particularly nice for me as an out-of-town fan.
