The colts and the Rams will play in what can only be called the "terrible bowl" because these two teams are absolutely awful right now. The two franchises are missing their best players, and we do not know when they will return. The Rams have a very young coach who must teach his team to play properly, and the Colts have a lame duck coach who could be fired at any moment. This game will tell us a lot about how the league will perceive these two teams. Can they both be terrible at the same time?
No Andrew Luck
The loss of Andrew Luck makes the Colts a wretched team that will not be able to move the ball.
They traded for Jacoby Brissett, but that move only makes them look respectable while they are losing their shirts to most of the teams they play. The Colts have not said when Andrew Luck will return, and it is possible that the Colts' front office will let him sit out for multiple games because they do not want to risk further injury. Waiting for Luck will make the Colts compile one of the worst records in the league this season.
No Aaron Donald
The Rams are playing without Aaron Donald because he is holding out for a better contract. They have not paid him because they do not realize what a special talent they have. They are missing their star player because they do not know how to manage their players and salaries, and they will likely make him wait until the 8th week of the season where he will have to return to ensure he can get credit for playing this year.
Donald could get paid before then, but the Rams are so bad that they probably do not care. They will let Sean McVay and Jared Goff look terrible because they do not want to offer help on defense.
Lame duck teams
These are lame duck teams that need to be completely rebuilt because they are both so terrible. Andrew Luck is the only piece on the Colts that could be considered worth keeping, and Jared Goff may not be viable for the Rams.
The Rams have upset Aaron Donald, and he may refuse to sign contracts with them hoping that he can get to free agency. There is no way to know how bad things could get for both teams, but rebuilding would seem to be the smart thing to do -- since they are so bad, you can expect the worst game of the season.
A game cannot reasonably end in a 0-0 tie, but that would not be shocking considering how bad both of these teams are. The more likely case is that the Colts will score a little bit because Jacoby Brissett has some pedigree that he brought from the Patriots.
