Broncos vs. Colts 2017: Time, TV schedule for ‘Thursday Night Football’

The 2017 NFL season has been tough for both the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts, but with just a couple weeks left to play, they’ll suit up and compete against one another on Thursday Night Football at 8:25 p.m. ET on NFL Network and NBC (live stream).

Between instability at the quarterback position and injuries and suspensions plaguing both squads, this Week 15 matchup will have implications on these teams’ draft position come April. This marks the 27th time these two teams have met (including in the postseason) with the series split 13-13 heading into Thursday’s matchup.

The Broncos are coming off a big shutout win over the Jets last weekend, and QB Trevor Siemian is hoping the team can carry that momentum with them through the remainder of the season. Defense continues to be the bread and butter for the Broncos, but by committing to the run game in Week 14, the team was able to find some semblance of an effective (read: scoring) offense.

The Colts have seemingly taken hit after hit this season. From having to commit to a second-year QB for the entire 2017 season, to losing playmakers on defense — like rookie Malik Hooker and linebacker John Simon — to injuries, this hasn’t been an ideal season for Indianapolis. Despite playing in near white-out conditions last week in Buffalo, the Colts actually took the game to overtime before falling short to the Bills.

Neither team is vying for a spot in the playoffs at this point, but trying to salvage jobs should be on the minds of players and coaches for both squads.

“A couple of guys that left the game yesterday — Justin Simmons has a mild-high ankle sprain,” head coach Vance Joseph said Monday. “He’s day-to-day, we’re treating him and seeing what’s going to happen on Thursday there. Jamal Carter has a shoulder bruise and he’s getting better by the moment, so he should be OK there. Other than that, we’re good from the football game last night.”

Ultimately, this is a Week 15 prime time game featuring two teams so far out of playoff contention that most players wives won’t even be watching. With that said, there are some questions to be answered and interesting things to watch for.

So how dominant was the defense on Sunday? We held the Jets to less than 100 yards of total offense (and zero points). This was the first shutout for the Broncos since 2005 (when we shutout the Jets). There have only been 13 NFL games this century when a team has been held to less than 100 yards and Denver has been involved in two of them — in a good way — on defense.

With a big win to energize the team, the Broncos are unmatched on the road in Indy. The Colts just have no answers at this point in the season, and with injuries continuing to derail their depth chart, this team is just counting down the days to the offseason. Denver gets the win. Six of our eight experts agree in their Week 15 picks, though OddsShark’s computer has the Colts winning.