Colts Host Patriots in Battle of AFC Division Leaders
NFL Sunday Night Football features the AFC East leading New England Patriots visiting the AFC South leading Indianapolis Colts.
New England leads the AFC East by one game over the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots are 7-2 SU and 5-4 ATS. On the road, New England is 2-2.
Indianapolis leads the AFC South by two games over the Houston Texans. The Colts are 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS. At home, Indianapolis is 3-1.
The line currently has the Colts favored by 3 points with the OVER/UNDER total sitting on 57.5 points.
The Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady will be coming off a bye week. New England defeated the Denver Broncos before having a week off.
Despite a stretch of great play through the air, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has struggled when matched up against New England.
Luck has a completion percentage of 51.6% and 7 interceptions in the two games he has played against the Patriots.
In the same two games, Brady has thrown 3 touchdowns and no interceptions against the Colts.
Luck has not played well against New England, which is in stark contrast to how he has played the past seven games this season.
Luck has thrown 21 touchdowns and 6 interceptions averaging over 363 yards passing per game. He is the league leader in passing yardage on the season with 3,085 yards and is on pace to just surpass the record set last season by Peyton Manning of 5,477 yards.
Indy is coming of a solid 40-24 win versus the New York Giants on November 3 before their bye week as well. Luck had 4 touchdown passes to lead the Colts to their sixth win on their past seven games.
The Colts are 3-0 SU in their past three games at home, while the Patriots are just 2-2 SU on the road, but are 5-0 SU in their past 5 games overall.
Indianapolis is leading the NFL in scoring per game at 31.2 points, while New England is third at 31.2 per game.
New England has a plus-12 turnover differential, which is tied for the league lead with Arizona, while Indy is just even with 15 takeaways and 15 forced turnovers.
Defensively the Colts are ranked No. 27 in passing defense, allowing 264 yards per game. However, they have recorded 24 sacks and that will be key for them against Brady.
Including the postseason, Indy is 0-3 SU in its past three head-to-head games with the Patriots, which includes losing two straight at home to the Pats.
Pick: This will be a high scoring game that will go down to the wire. I like New England to cover and the OVER to cash out.
