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10 things to know about Colts' 2024 regular season schedule

For the fifth consecutive season, the Colts will play the No. 1 overall pick from that year's NFL Draft.

May 15, 2024 at 10:00 PM

JJ Stankevitz

Colts.com Writer

The Colts' 2024 regular season schedule was unveiled Wednesday night, and we can finally start envisioning a season that begins with the Houston Texans and ends with the Jacksonville Jaguars – with both games at Lucas Oil Stadium.

So now that we know the dates and times for the Colts' 2024 regular season, here's some facts, notes and trivia about this year's schedule:

1. Week 18 oddities. The Colts will finish their sixth consecutive season with either the Texans or Jaguars when they host Jacksonville in Week 18. The Colts haven't played the Tennessee Titans to end a season since 2018 (at Nissan Stadium), and haven't hosted the Titans for a season-ender since 2015. Interestingly, the Colts haven't finished a season against the Texans in Houston since 2003.

2. Another front-loaded AFC South slate. The Colts will play four of their six divisional games before Week 9, including all three on the road in quick succession (Week 5 @ Jacksonville, Week 6 @ Tennessee, Week 8 @ Houston). In 2023, the Colts played four of their six AFC South games before Week 7; in 2022, five of the Colts' six AFC South games were played before Week 8.

3. They're No. 1. When the Chicago Bears come to Lucas Oil Stadium in Week 3, it'll mark the fifth consecutive season in which the Colts will play against the No. 1 pick in that year's NFL Draft.

2024: QB Caleb Williams, CHI
2023: QB Bryce Young, CAR (27-13 W)
2022: DE Travon Walker, JAX (24-0 L, 34-27 W)
2021: QB Trevor Lawrence, JAX (23-17 W, 26-11 L)
2020: QB Joe Burrow, CIN (31-27 W)

4. Rookies all over. Four teams on the Colts schedule used a first-round pick on a quarterback: The Chicago Bears (Caleb Williams), New England Patriots (Drake Maye), Minnesota Vikings (J.J. McCarthy) and Denver Broncos (Bo Nix). If all four rookies start – which is not a given – it would mean the Colts would face a first-round rookie quarterback in four games for the first time since 1983, when they played John Elway (who the Colts drafted No. 1 overall and traded to the Broncos) and Dan Marino twice each that year.

The Colts have never faced three different first-round rookie quarterbacks, let alone four, in a single season.

5. History lesson, Part 1. Two of the Colts' most important games in franchise history have come against the Chicago Bears. The Colts played their first game as an NFL franchise against the Bears in 1953, beating George Halas' side, 13-9, despite managing just nine first downs to the Bears' 20. Fifty-three years later, the Colts beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI to win their second Lombardi Trophy as a franchise, and first since moving to Indianapolis in 1984.

6. Back in the New (Jersey) groove: The Colts will do the MetLife Stadium double – Week 11 vs. the Jets and Week 17 vs. the Giants – for the first time. The Colts played two games at Giants Stadium – the former home of the Jets and Giants – in 2006, 1999 and 1993. And in 2025, the Colts will play two games in Los Angeles – against the Rams and Chargers at SoFi Stadium – for the first time in franchise history.

7. Rodgers vs. Indy. Despite entering his 20th season in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers will face the Colts for just the fifth time when the Jets host the Colts in primetime in Week 11 at MetLife Stadium. His previous four games, and the quarterbacks he played:

2008 (Peyton Manning): 34-14 Packers win
2012 (Andrew Luck): 30-27 Colts win (the Chuckstrong game)
2016 (Andrew Luck): 31-26 Colts win
2020 (Philip Rivers): 34-31 Colts win

8. Scorigami! The Colts last hosted the Buffalo Bills in Week 7 of the 2018 season, earning a victory with the only 37-5 final score in NFL history. The combination of a high snap over Andrew Luck's head bouncing out of the back of the end zone for a safety and two uncharacteristic missed PATs by Adam Vinatieri led to the legitimately unique final score.

9. History lesson, Part 2. The Colts will play the Minnesota Vikings for the 28th time in franchise history in Week 9 at U.S. Bank Stadium, but only 27 of those games have been in the regular season. Before the AFL and NFL merged in 1970, the Colts knocked off the Vikings in a divisional round playoff game in 1968, their first playoff win on their way to Super Bowl III, where they were upset by Joe Namath and the New York Jets.

10. Detroit barnburners. The Colts and Lions have lit up the scoreboard when they've met this century – at least one team has scored 30 or more points in each of their six games since 2000:

2020: Colts 41, Lions 21
2016: Lions 39, Colts 35
2012: Colts 35, Lions 33
2008: Colts 31, Lions 21
2004: Colts 41, Lions 9
2000: Colts 30, Lions 18

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