Andrew Luck is back!

After many thought his career might be over following multiple injury issues and an entire lost season, Luck proved last year he is still a tremendous talent. With his triumphant return and the team's competitive playoff run last season, the Indianapolis Colts find themselves favorites to win the competitive AFC South in 2019.

Luck is back, the offensive line is considered one of the very best pass blocking units in football and the defense has a lot of young, homegrown talent that flourished last year under a new coaching staff. So the Colts should make the playoffs easily, right?

In the immortal words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend!"

The Colts are currently -180 to make the playoffs. This seems too high for the road they will have to face to get there.

The AFC South is one of just a few divisions that is competitive from top to bottom. An argument can be made that all three of their competitors are capable of rising to the top of the division. The Jaguars, Texans and Titans all defend their home field well and should offer plenty of competition on the road.

Outside of the division the Colts also have games at the Chargers, at the Chiefs, at the Steelers and at the Saints. This is a brutal group of road games. They also get to face former coach Bruce Arians when they play Tampa Bay and an Atlanta team I expect to improve from last year.

Last year's team excelled on defense because of the emergence of rookie Darius Leonard. I'm inclined to believe any weaknesses he showed on film after a year of play will be exposed in his second year and some regression will occur. Luck also doesn't have as many offensive weapons as many of his competitors around the league. The Colts are a popular pick to make the playoffs because of Luck's re-emergence in 2018, but buyer beware. This looks like a vulnerable favorite.

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