The Indianapolis Colts are staring down a serious competitive integrity glitch this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, all thanks to the NFL’s chaotic 272-piece schedule puzzle. Turns out, not every team gets a fair shake, and the Colts are feeling the heat from a truly brutal travel stretch.
Talk About a Schedule Nightmare
What a rough draw for the Colts, seriously. They had the “shoulder tap” to fly across the pond for a Week 4 game in London against the Commanders last Sunday. That’s a huge trip, right? Then, after all that international travel and flying home from England, they’ve gotta immediately turn around and head to Pittsburgh this week for their Week 5 matchup against the Steelers. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh? They only had a bus trip to Cleveland for a Thursday night Week 4 game. That gave them a mini-bye while the Colts were literally overseas. It’s a textbook issue of competitive integrity, and it’s tough to watch one team get slammed like this.
The League’s Global Game Gamble
You know the NFL is obsessed with global expansion, and this scheduling mess? It’s a direct result. The league’s gonna gloss over these irregularities, of course, because there’s not much they can do to fix the annoyances and inconveniences that come with sending teams on long trips overseas and then expecting them to play another game right away. They’re even hoping to get the NFL Players Association to sign off on 16 international games a year. The idea, apparently, is that if every team has to travel like this, maybe it’ll all become more equitable. But for the Colts this Sunday, it’s a clear added disadvantage they have to deal with.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
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