The Indianapolis Colts are having a rough go of the season, despite a ton of high expectations. Andrew Luck is the starting quarterback and everybody in that organization feels that should translate to wins, much like it did when Peyton Manning was the man running the show. Luck has that expectation, but he has been unable to guide the Colts to consistent victory under Chuck Pagano this season.
‘Monday Night Football’ 2015 live stream: How to watch Colts vs. Panthers online
The Panthers will try and remain unbeaten when they take on the Colts on “Monday Night Football.”
Under the bright lights of Monday Night Football, Luck will have his hands full once again with a tough game against the undefeated Carolina Panthers.
It’s still a little weird typing “the undefeated Carolina Panthers” after the team won the NFC South with a paltry 7-8-1 record last season. The Panthers were not good until the final weeks of 2014, but Ron Rivera’s team has played excellent football this season, despite plenty of things working against them.
Cam Newton has few options at the wide receiver position, the running back position is manned by a player who has been injured a lot in recent years and despite all of that the Panthers keep winning. It helps that they haven't played the best competition thus far this season (they still don't own a victory over a team with a winning record), but the Colts are 3-4 and don't have one themselves.
The Panthers came close to losing their first game against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6, but a fourth-quarter comeback gave them a win. They then handled the Philadelphia Eagles without much issue in their last game. The schedule going forward actually looks relatively easy for the Panthers, with a showdown against the Green Bay Packers looming after this game against Indianapolis.
After the Packers, the Panthers will play the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers again, but the main thing to watch for are the pair of matchups against the NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons, who are also doing well on the season. If the Panthers can continue to win games outside of their matchups with Atlanta, those games could wind up being unimportant as far as a playoff berth is concerned.
Indianapolis may be 3-4 on the season, but that's surprisingly enough to put it on top of the AFC South, the new worst division in football. The Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars both have 2-5 records, while the Marcus Mariota-led Tennessee Titans sport a 1-5 record on the season. The Colts' three wins on the season came against all three of those teams, and with the way things are going, those could end up being the only games they need to win.
An AFC South sending a team with a losing record to the playoffs, much like the NFC South did for the Panthers last year, is a real possibility. The Texans still have huge issues at the quarterback position; the Jaguars, despite an offense performing above expectations, cannot get things done; the Titans aren’t just starting a rookie quarterback, they’re starting a rookie quarterback who is banged up. The Colts don’t need to win that many games.
How to watch
When: 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
TV: ESPN
Commentators: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters
Online: WatchESPN, Verizon NFL Mobile
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