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Colts players staying in the moment, focused on Falcons amid playoff push

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 16: Indianapolis Colts Linebacker Zaire Franklin (44) pumps up the crowd during the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts on December 16, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts are 8-6, holding the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC entering the final three weeks of the season.

The Colts are engaged in a four-way tie with the Bengals, Texans, and Bills for the last two wildcard spots. Indianapolis lost to Cincinnati in Week 14, and play the Texans in Week 18 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It is easy to look ahead in the season to bigger matchups, like that potential win-or-go-home game against Houston in three weeks, but the shared message among Colts players is clear.

Take this one week at a time.

This week, the Colts head to Atlanta to play the 6-8 Falcons.

While this game doesn’t have the head-to-head implications as the Steelers and Bengals games from the last two weeks, or the Texans game coming up at the end of the regular season, but the Colts know every loss makes a playoff push exponentially harder.

Colts star linebacker and team captain Zaire Franklin is emphasizing this message throughout the locker room, as he told News 8 Sports Director Anthony Calhoun.

“We can’t count our ticket until it’s punched,” Franklin said. “That is when the real grind begins. I know what the percentages are and what the hypotheticals all are, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve just got to focus on the game that’s right in front of us, focus on the team right in front of us. We have a great test in Atlanta this weekend.”

Quarterback Gardner Minshew has just as much conviction in this ‘next game’ mentality as Franklin does.

“We just have to get ready for Atlanta. That’s it,” Minshew said. “You can only win one game a week and it’s an opportunity we won’t be able to get back, so we have to prepare like it’s the last and most important game we’ve got and that is how we are going to approach it.”

Rookie wide receiver Josh Downs knows what the playoff picture looks like, but understands that Atlanta is the priority.

“If we go out there and lay an egg, we are not going to get in,” Downs said. “We control our destiny, but at the end of the day, we have to win… We’ve got to beat the Raiders, the Texans, and the Falcons. The Texans are tied with us still, and the Browns, Bengals, Steelers and even the Raiders are still in the competition.”

The Colts will kick off Week 16 in Atlanta with a game against the Falcons on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST.

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