Two things before I even start:
1) At this time last year, you would've chalked up the Rams and Jaguars as easy wins and the Giants and Texans as tough outs. We don't know how these teams are going to look in 2018.
2) It's freaking April, guys. The Colts haven't even drafted yet. Relax. Predicting wins/losses right now is a total waste of time.
OK, now that is out of the way, here are some of the things that jumped out to be about the Colts' 2018 slate:
Rough start: The Colts start with four of their first six on the road, including facing both of last year’s Super Bowl participants - Philadelphia (Week 3) and New England (Week 5).
#1! (o'clocks!): The Week 5 road game at New England is their only primetime game (Thursday night) and the Week 8 trip to Oakland, on Pacific Time, is the only other non-1 PM start (4:05p ET). That won't change unless they're flexed into a Sunday Night Football game (unlikely).
Late road: Weirdly enough, all three of the Colts’ AFC South road games come in the final five weeks of the season - Week 13 (at Jacksonville), Week 14 (at Houston), and Week 17 (at Tennessee)
Rest for the weary: You couldn't have asked for better timing on the bye (Week 9), and there’s a strange three-game homestand right after that (Jaguars, Titans, Dolphins). This means the Colts won’t leave Indianapolis in the month of November, around when teams usually start to show signs of fatigue.
Worst part: The most difficult stretch looks like the Week 3-5 threesome with a home game against Houston sandwiched by the Eagles and Patriots roadies... oh, and the Pats' trip is a short week. Ouch.
Sorry, NASCAR: This is awfully crappy luck for the Brickyard 400 scheduling shift as the Colts have a 1:00 opener against Cincinnati right when the race starts.