With their playoff hopes officially on the line Monday night, the Indianapolis Colts (6-7) will visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to take on the New Orleans Saints (10-3) in a primetime battle.
As three games remain on the schedule, the Colts are literally fighting for their season’s life. If they lose, which most expect them to do, they are officially knocked out of the playoff race and will shift their focus to the offseason and the development of the younger players.
Some of the experts around the league gave their picks for the matchup. Here’s how the Colts Wire staff sees the Week 15 game shaking out.
Kevin Hickey (@KevinHickey11): Saints 31, Colts 20
The Colts are in a bad way right now. They’ve lost five of their last six games, all to opponents they could have beaten. Now, they take on one of the best teams in the NFC.
It was nice to see the Colts offense find some life in Week 14 but even then they only scored 28 points. They wound up scoring a season-high 35 as a team thanks to the pick-six from linebacker Darius Leonard. The Saints defense is beatable, but the front seven is strong enough to keep the Colts at bay. Jacoby Brissett will find Marcus Johnson for a touchdown, but he will also struggle against the blitz.
Defensively, the Colts have a big mismatch. No one on the team can cover Michael Thomas one-on-one, especially now that Kenny Moore is ruled out. They will also have to deal with tight end Jared Cook and running back Alvin Kamara in the passing game. I think Cook finds the end zone for the third time in the last two games.
The Colts have a lot of work to do this offseason, and it will become official with a loss on Monday night.
Arden Franklyn (@ArdenSportsTalk): Saints 38, Colts 24
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Colts get off to a good start on Monday night, but it will ultimately go away. I don’t have any concerns about their offense dealing with the crowd noise at the Superdome, but I do with their personnel.
All across the board, the Saints’ defense is favored to win their matchups against the Colts’ offense and if this team doesn’t put themselves in favorable down and distances, then they will fall victim to the Saints’ top five pass-rushing unit.
As for the opposite side of the ball, it’s going to take a great effort to contain Drew Brees and Co. Besides getting their share of turnovers, the Colts have to limit the Saints’ time of possession and number of big plays to uncharacteristic levels.
John Alfieri (@alfierijohn): Saints 27, Colts 14
The Colts travel to New Orleans for a Monday night showdown with the Saints. To say this is a must-win is an understatement as the Colts have lost three straight and five of their last six.
This offense led by Jacoby Brissett has struggled to produce big, over the top plays in 2019. The Saints have a solid defensive unit with a stellar pass rush. Their corners and safeties can be beaten down the field, but without the ability to throw the ball down the field, Indy will struggle to move the ball with chunk plays.
The Colts defense, while they are relatively young, has really struggled to stop over the top passes and get teams off the field on third down. This will be a huge issue with a Saints offense that has loads of talent.
Michael Thomas will live up to his Twitter handle (@Cantguardmike) as the Colts secondary will not be able to contain him the entire game. Pierre Desir will be the primary corner on Thomas, but the size and skill of this MVP candidate receiver will be too much to handle.
Expect four touchdown passes from Drew Brees which will break Peyton Manning’s record of most TD passes of all time. A tough break in a tough loss. The struggles will continue as the playoff window closes even more.
Sam Sinclair (@samsinclair96):
Indianapolis has a lot going against them this week. Saints are coming in off a loss, still fighting for a top seed in the NFC, it’s a prime time game, and they’re honoring their 10-year anniversary for their Super Bowl victory over the Colts back in 2009.
The Colts have to be more consistent through four quarters. Over the three-game losing streak, the Colts have had leads in all three games going into the fourth quarter but have been outscored 31-0 in the final frame. Indianapolis must be more consistent if they want to keep up with the Saints offense.
Speaking of the Saints offense, how should the Colts defend them? Well, it all starts and ends with Michael Thomas their star wide receiver. Thomas is currently on pace to break former-Colt Marvin Harrison’s receptions record for a season (143) if he has at least seven catches each of the last three games. Indianapolis must watch for Jared Cook the Saints’ big tight end threat over the middle—he’s third on the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns.
With how the last few games have gone for the Colts, and the situation they’re going into on Monday Night football—with a loss the Colts are officially eliminated from playoff contention—I don’t think they have enough offensively to keep up, so I’ll take the Saints in this one.