After enduring another heartbreaking loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Indianapolis Colts are starting to look like a legitimate playoff contender. With the continued emergence of Jonathan Taylor, Carson Wentz returning to MVP form, and an elite defensive unit lead by Darius Leonard, the Colts have shown the entire league what they’re made of when fully healthy and locked in. Nonetheless, we’re looking at our Colts Week 12 takeaways in this post.

As they continue their push to return to the playoffs this season, Indianapolis will have their work cut for them with a tough schedule ahead of them, but given the talent this team possesses on both sides of the ball it shouldn’t  come as any surprise to see them win the majority of these games.

With all this going for the Colts, we’ll now take a look at our Colts Week 12 takeaways.

Colts Week 12 Takeaways

Carson Wentz is playing like one of the league’s best quarterbacks  

Coming off another big performance for the Colts with 306 passing yards to go along with three touchdowns on 27 of 44 passing, Wentz has shown what he can do when he’s at full strength. Granted he did throw two costly interceptions at pivotal moments in the game, but he showed in Sunday’s close loss to the Bucs that he can run with the best of them and is capable of going toe-to-toe with the league’s best quarterback’s.

As the Colts have slowly started to turn their season around, there’s no denying that a huge part of that success has been due to Wentz’s stellar play as of late. Especially when you take into consideration that he held his own against the legendary Tom Brady. Even though the Colts fell short on Sunday, Wentz showed that he still has plenty left in the tank and has the skills and poise to run a functional and star-studded offensive unit.

Darius Leonard has been the Colts defensive anchor all season long

With 12 tackles and a forced fumble during Sunday’s wire-to-wire showdown with the Bucs, Leonard was an unstoppable rebel force that kept coming at the Tampa Bay offense with everything in his arsenal. Even though the Colts lost, it was a close game and it very easily could’ve gone their way. Leonard’s defensive prowess is a big reason why they were able to stay in the game as long as they did and kept things close even after they blew a double-digit lead.

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If he can keep this up and continue to set the tone for Indy on defense, then the Colts will be in prime position to make some noise and stay in the thick of the ultra-competitive AFC playoff race. Leonard’s drive and aggression are what has made him so lethal to opposing offenses all year long and his high level of production has been a huge plus for the Colts defensively.

The Colts are dark horse title contenders

In spite of their slow start to the season, the Colts have found new life in recent weeks and come away with some quality wins. Looking rejuvenated and ready to power through the remaining competition, the Colts are destined to make a surprise playoff run this season. Currently playing like the ultimate wild card, the Colts have been a force of nature after turning their season around and fighting their way into the playoff hunt. If this keeps up then the Colts will finally have something good going and possibly shine big in the postseason.