The Indianapolis Colts are on the road to take on the Minnesota Vikings for week 7 of the 2026 season, kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. EST.
Well ladies and gentlemen, today is the first game in the post Chris Ballard era. The game that ended Ballard’s tenure was a 26-20 loss to a previously winless Titans team, a team that has often looked like the worst team in the league so far this season. After that loss, someone had to go and Carlie Irsay-Gordon knew it. She let Chris Ballard know he would need to update his resume and released a statement thanking him for effort.
It’s tough to say how the firing will impact the Colts play for the rest of the season but it would be hard to imagine a loss worse than what we saw in week six. Sure, games could be more lopsided, but with a chance to pull to an even 3-3 record, still solidly in the hunt for the AFC South, Indy (more or less) at full strength, lost to the worst team in the NFL. It actually can’t get much worse.
Side Note: I told you about this last week but I’m probably going to keep reminding you each week because I think it’s important for everyone who enjoys these gameday threads. The SB Nation app makes commenting, especially in these game feeds, so much easier. At this point I roll my eyes every time someone asks me to download another app, but this one really does improve the experience so much that even I am telling you that if you like to hang out here, chat, celebrate, commiserate, and argue in the comments, this app is actually worth your time. Links are directly below.
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The question of who comes out on top today comes down to a couple of factors. Offensively the Vikings are averaging 283 yards and 22 points per game. The Colts are averaging 311 yards and 24 points per game. Neither team is great offensively but Indy has been slightly better. The disparity between the teams comes on defense. The Colts are giving up 351 yards and 27 points per game, while the Vikings are giving up 260 yards and 13 points per. Indy has also turned the ball over 11 times while their defense has just 3 take aways on the year. The Vikings are almost completely opposite, having just 4 turnovers while their defense has forced 10.
As far as matchups go, this one could be worse! The Vikings could have an explosive offense going up against this Indy defense, but they don’t. This Indy defense has the amazing ability to make even bad offenses look competent, so the Minnesota offense might look explosive today, after all. Defensively the Vikings might be in for a banner day against a turnover prone Colts offense featuring a QB who has thrown 4 touchdowns to 6 interceptions. In short, this matchup is rough on paper.
There is the chance that we do see a bump in play this week, every year teams that make a big firing play a great game directly following that major firing. One criticism of the Ballard Colts has long been that they play to their competition. In a game like this one, that’s probably a good thing, the Vikings are the better team. Today they play an undefeated opponent, we’ll see if they rise to the occasion or if the will of this team is completely broken.
If this game goes the way I think it’s going to go, there’s a non-zero chance we see a certain backup quarterback get some snaps in the second half.
Prediction:
Vikings: 26
Colts: 13
As always, go Colts.
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This is your week seven open thread so hang out here, chat, celebrate, commiserate, and argue in the comments! Go wild (within reason)!
Go Colts!
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