Ever since the departure of Peyton Manning and the surprise retirement of Andrew Luck, the Indianapolis Colts have mostly been a non-factor in the NFL. Philip Rivers did his best to keep the Colts competitive but simply wasn’t enough for the Indianapolis offense. 2021 brings new faces and new hopes to Indianapolis, as the Colts look to return to playoffs after a tragic end to 2020.

The Arrival of Carson Wentz

Although he has been injury-prone since entering the NFL in 2016, Wentz is looking to bounce back to the quarterback he was in his first two seasons with the Eagles. He hasn’t been the same since ending the 2017 season with an injury that forced him to miss the last part of the regular season and the playoffs.

Wentz has repeatedly shown that he has the toughness and can be great with the right pieces around him. He takes over a Colts offense with dynamic weapons at wide receiver and in the backfield. It could be argued that with Wentz, last year’s season wouldn’t have ended with a 27-24 loss to the Bills in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

Carson Wentz has a lot to prove and is hungry to show that he can still be an elite quarterback in today’s pass-heavy league.

A Sneaky Good Group of Receivers

A big knock on the Colts last year was their lack of weapons at receiver. It was difficult to figure out if their offensive woes were due to bad receivers or poor quarterback play. Ultimately, Philip Rivers took most of the blame, and his retirement opens the door for Carson Wentz to take over.

Led by veterans T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal, the Colts also have a couple of big-play threats in Paris Campbell and Michael Pittman Jr. You pretty well know what you’re getting out of Hilton and Pascal, but Pittman and Campbell could be the X factors for an offense in search of stars.

Pittman showed last year that he has the potential to be a great receiver and has size and speed comparable to Calvin Johnson and Mike Evans. Look for big things out of both him and Campbell this year.
Best Defense in Football?

The biggest thing that the Colts have going for them coming into a new season with questions on offense, is their defense. They had one of the top defenses in football last year, and not much is going to change this year.

Despite not having a superstar name like Myles Garret or J.J. Watt, the Colts defense is loaded with young talent and veteran leaders alike. They’re great at stopping both the run and the pass and are coming off an incredible 2020 campaign.

If the offense sputters early, which is expected with a new and injured quarterback, the defense will once again be asked to put the team on its shoulders. For the Colts, their best offense could very well be their defense.

Conclusion

Despite the glaring question at quarterback with Carson Wentz at the helm, the Indianapolis Colts have reason to be optimistic heading into 2021. They have a top defense, solid wide receivers, and one of the top offensive lines in football when everyone’s healthy. They have a lot going for them, as long as they can get decent play out of Wentz.