The Indianapolis Colts could show up to the stadium on Sunday with nothing to play for.
Or the scenario may call for a victory so they can remain alive in the AFC playoffs.
Either way, the Colts’ postseason fate hangs on other teams as they enter Sunday’s game against the lowly New York Giants at East Rutherford, N.J.
Indianapolis (7-8) is mathematically alive in the playoff hunt but trails the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos by two games with two contests left.
The Chargers and Broncos both have games on Saturday. If both nine-win clubs win, the Colts will be eliminated and miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is well aware of the team’s predicament and scenarios entering the game against the Giants (2-13), who have lost a franchise-record 10 straight games.
“We still have an opportunity, with some help from other people,” Richardson said. “But we just taking it one game at a time because it doesn’t do us any good if everybody else does what they have to do to help us out and then we don’t go out there and take advantage of it.”
Richardson (back/foot) sat out practice Thursday and the Colts remain confident his ailments will improve. If not, veteran Joe Flacco could be in line to start against New York.
Flacco was just 1-3 as a starter when Richardson was sidelined or benched earlier this season. But Flacco (nine touchdowns, five interceptions) has a superior touchdown-to-interception ratio than Richardson (eight TDs, 12 interceptions) and has completed 66.5 percent of his passes compared to Richardson’s 47.7 percent.
No matter who starts, the game plan will revolve around star running back Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for 218 yards and three scores on 29 carries during last weekend’s 38-30 home win over the Tennessee Titans.
It was Taylor’s second-most rushing yards in a game behind the club-record 253 he put up against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2020 season.
The Giants are starting Drew Lock at quarterback for the fourth time in the past five games.
Lock underwent an MRI exam on his passing shoulder Monday but no damage was found. He hurt it during Sunday’s 34-7 road loss against the Atlanta Falcons.
Lock is 0-3 as a starter this season and has completed just 52.7 percent of his passes. He has one touchdown and four interceptions in 129 attempts.
“As a quarterback, the ball is in your hands every play and one or two bad plays can change a game,” Lock said of his miscues. “You try to look at them individually, try to learn from each play individually and go onto the next week. Learn from what you did and just have a heavy emphasis on taking care of the ball.”
Giants coach Brian Daboll opted for Lock over Tommy DeVito, who is 0-2 as a starter this season.
Daboll said he made the decision to continue the continuity from last week.
Meanwhile, star rookie wideout Malik Nabers (toe) missed practice Thursday and called himself a game-day decision.
Nabers has 97 receptions for 969 yards and four touchdown catches as one of the bright spots of the horrendous season.
“It’s tough on everybody. It’s not just tough on me. It’s tough on everybody,” Nabers said of the team’s troubles. “I’m continuing to keep my mental (attitude) strong, continue to move forward, continue to try to better the team, better myself. Lead by example. I feel like that’s really all we can do in this state of mind that we’re going through.”
In addition to Nabers, running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (ankle), center John Michael Schmitz (ankle), linebacker Micah McFadden (neck), cornerbacks Greg Stroman (shoulder/shin) and Dee Williams (toe) and safety Raheem Layne (knee) sat out practice Thursday.
Richardson was one of three Colts to miss practice. The others were tight end Mo Alie-Cox (toe) and linebacker E.J. Speed (knee).
In the most recent meeting, the Giants routed the Colts 38-10 late in the 2022 season.
