Colts' Week 15 game vs. Vikings will be 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff

INDIANAPOLIS — For years, Colts owner Jim Irsay has wanted his Indianapolis teams to get more chances in the league’s national TV showcases, opportunities to play in the spotlight without any other NFL game on TV.

The Colts are getting it now at the worst possible time.

A sputtering Colts team coming off of a 54-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night football will play its next game against the Vikings at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, after the bye, marking a string of four Indianapolis games that will air with no competition from another NFL game.

The game will be broadcast nationally on NFL Network and locally on FOX59.

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Indianapolis (4-8-1) has fallen far out of the AFC playoff standings, dropping to 13th in the conference and into the top 10 in NFL draft order with a run of six losses in seven games that cost former head coach Frank Reich his job and led to Irsay’s shocking decision to hire legendary Colts center Jeff Saturday to be the team’s interim coach.

Normally, a team in that position this late in the season would not be in primetime much, but the Colts had a Monday night game against Pittsburgh, Sunday night’s game against the Cowboys, a TV ratings guarantee, and a Monday night game scheduled on Dec. 26 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The only game in question was their Week 15 trip to Minneapolis, and the Vikings (10-2) have the second-best record in the NFL.

Indianapolis does get a break in Week 14, finally taking their bye after a tumultuous and disheartening season that has altered the direction of the franchise.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis Colts schedule: Week 15 vs. Vikings is 1 p.m. Saturday