Up next for the Indianapolis Colts is a divisional matchup with the Tennessee Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium.
After their loss last week to Denver, the Colts’ playoff chances grew quite slim, and those already low odds took another hit on Thursday night when the Chargers defeated those same Broncos.
Now, even more help is required for the Colts if they are going to make any sort of push.
However, before the Colts can begin to think about what possible help is out there, they have to take care of their own business first against Tennessee.
All season long, consistency has eluded this team, as has complementary football. It’s been rare to see both the offense and defensive sides of the ball find success in the same game this season.
The Colts came away with a narrow win the last time these two teams met earlier in the season, but can they do it again? Let’s see who the experts are picking in this one.
ESPN
A clean sweep in favor of the Colts. All three of ESPN’s experts are picking Indianapolis and they believe the defense will have another big game, with the Titans not scoring more than 13 points in any prediction. However, if you ask ESPN’s FPI projection model, this game is about as even as can be with the Colts winning 49.9% of the simulations by an average of 0.1 points.
Bleacher Report
Of the eight individuals picking this game, five are taking the Titans to win. Brent Sobleski, who is picking Tennessee, noted last week’s blunders against Denver and that the quarterback change for the Titans to Mason Rudolph will provide enough to secure the win.
Pro Football Talk
We have a split–Mike Florio is picking the Titans and Chris Simms is taking the Colts. Florio also notes the second half performance against Denver, saying, “The air went out of Indy’s balloons.” Florio is 155-69 in picking games this season and Simms is 151-73.
CBS Sports
Pete Prisco is picking the Colts to win by a touchdown. While others think that last week’s loss will rollover into this game against Tennessee, Prisco thinks the opposite, mentioning that the Colts defense did a lot of good things last week, resulting in a bounce-back win.
NFL.com
Hey–another clean sweep in favor of the Colts. All five staff members are picking Indianapolis to win this one. Dan doesn’t think starting Rudolph, who has already made a few appearances this season, will provide a big enough boost for the Titans. He also notes that the Colts are 5-1 against teams below .500 this season.