Yesterday I gave you three solid reasons to believe the

Colts can go on the road and beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Today I want to provide 3 additional factors that will play significant roles in Saturday’s outcome. WeatherPhoto by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesThe forecast on Saturday in Kansas City is calling for snow showers and 5 to 10 mph winds. The expectation is about an inch of accumulation. Those are hardly blizzard level conditions Indianapolis Colts Hoodie , so this won’t be a game like the one the Colts played in Buffalo, but it looks as though it could be a relatively sloppy day for football, and depending on when that snowfall occurs, could see impacted visibility. Normally, this would be bad news for the Colts. They are a dome team, as many will point out, and have historically struggled in adverse conditions caused by poor weather. In this case, though? That weather may prove to work very much in favor of the Colts. The area of the game most impacted by cold, snowy weather is the passing game. Given that the Chiefs’ primary strength is there, adverse weather conditions almost certainly favor the Colts. Cold, wet, slushy games turn into trench battles, and that is the kind of game the Colts are both equipped, and certainly capable of winning. It seems unlikely that the conditions will be such that they will make it impossible to throw the ball, and it would be unwise to place our hopes on that. However, if they do become a factor, the Colts needn’t fear being impacted in the way that the Colts teams of old used to be. PuntingPhoto by Bob Levey/Getty ImagesThe best case scenario is that apart from kicking off, Rigoberto Sanchez doesn’t have to do a thing in this game. Given that this is a playoff team, that likelihood is pretty low. The punting game will play a factor at least to some degree. Because of this, I did a little digging and found some interesting data.Following a punt the Chiefs have ended drives with a touchdown 50% of the time when they start the drive outside their own 20 yard line. First Khari Willis Jersey , think about how incredible that stat is. This is a very good and very efficient offense. When they get the ball with decent field position, they’re putting points on the board, and there is a 50/50 shot they end the drive in the end zone. However, when their drives begin inside their own 20, the Chiefs’ offense is far less efficient. That 50% figure drops down to 37.5, which makes the goal very clear for the Colts in terms of their special teams. If they can consistently pin the Chiefs inside their 20 on punts, they give their defense a much better shot at getting a stop. The good news is that over the past 6 weeks, that is exactly what they have been doing. The average starting position of their opponents after punts over that time is just inside the 20-yard-line. Ideally they won’t need to punt often, but if they do, they’ll need Rigo to bring it.InjuriesPhoto by Robert Reiners/Getty ImagesThere are several key players on both rosters who are still relative unknowns in terms of their availability for Saturday. For the Colts, guys like Malik Hooker, who was in a boot yesterday, T.Y. Hilton, and Tyquan Lewis are all players we just don’t know about at this point. That is unlikely to change much despite injury reports, because this team has played it very close to the vest in terms of any injury updates all season.For the Chiefs, safety Eric Berry, receiver Sammy Watkins, and running back Spencer Ware were all said to be “making progress” according to Andy Reid. He seems to be about as keen on giving up injury details as Frank Reich. We will know more when official injury reports come out this afternoon, but not likely much more.As far as the Colts go, my guess is that if they are at all able to play http://www.coltsfanshop.com/Bobby-Okereke-Jersey , they will play. Hilton is almost a lock to be in the game at this point, and I’m not sure you could keep him off the field if you tried. Malik Hooker was said to be wearing his boot as a precaution, and I would guess that if he can go, he will as well. Tyquan Lewis is less certain.Regardless, being able to play and being able to be effective aren’t necessarily the same thing. How these players on both sides are able to contribute could go a long way to deciding this game, and whether or not they can get in the game on Saturday is less important than what they can do for their teams once they get on the field. Right now the Indianapolis Colts have a lot going for them. Andrew Luck and the offense have been fantastic in nearly every aspect over the past several games. Everyone who holds Colts fandom is in love with Frank Reich and Chris Ballard looks to be the right fit for acquiring the right talent to fit what the Colts are hoping to accomplish. However, the Colts defense is such an interesting unit right now. Yes, they’re allowing a ton of yards per game (364 YPG — 20th) and have allowed 30 points in 4 of the team’s 10 games, and their third-down percentage has gone way down over the course of the season. On the other hand, though, they’re doing a lot right that is absolutely having an impact on their ability to win games. First, we have to acknowledge the talent. Darius Leonard should absolutely be in the running for defensive rookie of the year. Anthony Walker is ascending as a very good MIKE backer within the scheme, and Kenny Moore is the best cover corner on the team and is vastly underrated throughout the league — just to name a few. With all of what you can say in the negative about the defense, they’re doing a lot right and it shouldn’t be tossed aside among other stats. Right now the Colts are 14th in the league allowing 5.6 yards per play. That’s not bad at all, especially when you consider the scheme that’s in place. They’re also 6th in the league allowing only 3.9 yards per attempt on the ground. Does anyone need to reminding of how terrible the Colts run defense was in the 3-4 scheme from the Pagano era which is literally designed to stop the run? Didn’t think so.And while we will always look at points allowed, and understand that the Colts are giving up some high-scoring games, they’re 18th in the league right now allowing 24.9 PPG in a league that is as offensively biased as we’ve ever seen. A few teams allowing more than the Colts: The Rams, Panthers, Jets, Bengals and Bills — all teams who have some real playmakers and high draft picks being established in longstanding schemes.But there’s a few more that I think hold a great amount of importance to what the Colts are accomplishing and trying to build as true staples of their defense. The Colts are 4th in turnovers forced per drive right now. The team has proven that they are absolutely going to turn over every team they play Parris Campbell Jersey , and there have been a few of them that quite literally have been the difference in the win-loss column for the team. Opportunistic, is not a four-letter word in the NFL, it becomes a mindset that gets contagious throughout the unit. Right now, it’s making a big difference for the Colts.After a strong start to the season, the Colts’ pressure on quarterbacks took a bit of a hiatus over the past few weeks only accruing 4 sacks between Week’s 5-10. But, even with that the Colts are smack-dab in the middle of the NFL (tied for 15th) with 26 sacks on the season. The only question to be asked is if they can get back into the saddle after a big 5-sack game against the Titans this past Sunday.Another aspect that has been flying under the radar a bit is the team’s penalty situation. Sure, the Colts aren’t tops in the league in fewest penalties on the defensive side of the ball, however, there’s something about those penalties that aren’t really hurting the team. In fact, it’s helping them. The Colts aren’t allowing their penalties to extend opponent’s drives, and with a few other things about the defense lacking, that’s a very big deal. Currently, the Colts are allowing 1.4 first downs via penalty per game which is tied for 6th in the league. This is far better than the Colts had been under Pagano, and even since the last time the team employed a 4-3 scheme, 2011 if you can believe that. As I said, the defensive unit isn’t a complete group, and they’ve got their flaws. But, they are definitely seeing that they are doing some important things in the initial stages of this rebuild and change in scheme on that side of the ball. Matt Eberflus appears to understand the pieces that he has available to him and is instilling the right mindset within the group as well. This group will continue to be fun to watch as the season hits the back stretch of the season.