Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts NFL Betting Odds & Spread

Written December 26, 2008 by Jason Lowry

Titans Colts Football

This Sunday that Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans will square off in what will be a pretty meaningless game for both teams, as they both are locked into the playoffs. The Colts come in at 11-4 and have the longest win streak in the NFL with 8 straight wins, while the Titans have the NFL’s best record at 13-2. Last week the Colts took care of the Jaguars on Thursday night taking home a 31-24 win, while the Titans secured home field with their impressive 31-14 win over the Steelers. For those of you looking to do a little NFL betting this weekend, the Titans are 3 point favorites on the road over the Colts at Bookmaker.com.

The Titans made a statement win over the Steelers last week, as they became the first team to gain over 300 yards against the Steelers offense. You would expect that a number of those yards came from the running game of LenDale White and Chris Johnson, but while both scored a touchdown, they combined for just 117 yards. So as you might of guessed the offense came from quarterback Kerry Collins, who completed 20 of 29 passes for 216 yards, including a 34 yard touchdown strike to Justin Gage. The Colts will likely keep many of their big names off the field this Sunday, as they are already coming into the game a little banged up, so we expect the Titans to run all day against the Colts.

Not taking anything away from the offense, but the defense was also a force and a big reason why the Titans won the game last week. They harassed Ben Roethlisberger all day long, as they forced 2 interceptions, 2 fumbles, and were able to sack him 5 times. The big story was the play of rookie Jason Jones who not only stepped in and replaced the injured Albert Haynesworth, but had 3.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. With Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch both expected back in the playoffs, the play of Jones only makes this defense even better. Bet Tennessee Titans -3 at Bookmaker.com.

I’m sure the Colts would love to come out and prove they can beat the Titans, but with both teams locked in, there is no need to risk injury, and we don’t think either coach will do just that. So expect to see Peyton Manning but we wouldn’t expect to see a lot of him. That means Jim Sorgi will have to step in and fill the shoes of making this offense click, and as long as he has some of the weapons we think he will be just fine. One concern heading into the playoffs is the Colts rushing attack, and last week they couldn’t move the ball on the ground at all, as they had just 32 yards on 18 carries. The good thing is they have Manning and he wound up throwing for 364 yards and 3 scores. Tight end Dallas Clark had another big day grabbing 8 balls for 105 yards and a score, while Reggie Wayne had 7 catches for 108 yards and a score. Even with the backups doing the majority of the work this week there is no question this team is going to play to win this game.

The Colts defense is likely going to rest many of its big stars that have been battling injuries like Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, and Bob Sanders. We aren’t saying they won’t play, we just don’t see the Colts keeping them on the field for a very long time. Last week the defense had a big second half, as they shut down the Jaguars to just 7 points after giving up 17 in the first half. Without the big players playing most of the game, we have a hard time seeing this unit being able to stop the rushing attack of the Titans. Bet Indianapolis Colts -3 at Bookmaker.com.

Lowry’s Lean on the Game: Titans +3
If the starters were playing this wouldn’t be such an easy call, but if the offense spends a half without Peyton Manning the Titans defense is going to cause chaos. Look for big days from both White and Johnson and expect to see a little Vince Young as well. My opinion Titans win this one easy.

Predicted Score: Titans 24 Colts 17

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