Colts Look To Improve Playoff Pedigree

Can Donald Brown and the Indianapolis Colts barge their way to a No. 2 seed?

The Indianapolis Colts host the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday in the regular season finale for both teams.

Kickoff at Lucas Oil Stadium in Downtown Indianapolis is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Colts (10-5, 5-2 home) will have one thing on their mind as they take to the field against their divisional rivals: win.

A win on Sunday could see Chuck Pagano’s side climb the AFC playoff rankings into a No. 2 or No. 3 berth.

A No. 3 seed can be secured with a win and a loss for either the Cincinnati Bengals – hosting the Baltimore Ravens  (1:00 p.m. ET) – or New England Patriots – hosting the Buffalo Bills (4:25 p.m. ET). A loss for both of those sides, coupled with a Colts win, would see Indianapolis climb into second-place and receive a first round bye.

A loss for the Colts against the Jaguars on Sunday, or wins for the Bengals and Patriots, would see the Colts retain the No. 4 seed and setup a rematch of last weekend’s game against the No. 5 seeded Kansas City Chiefs, although the venue would switch from Arrowhead Stadium to Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Colts made a statement in that game, convincingly defeating the Chiefs 23-7 in the City of Fountains. That win marked a second straight decisive victory, suggesting the Colts may be finding their form at the right time of the year.

With a No. 2 seed looking unlikely, some are suggesting the Colts stick with the No. 4 seed. Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz suggests that the Colts stand a better chance of beating the Chiefs than any of the four contenders for the No. 6 berth, especially if it’s the defending champion Ravens that make the grade, as many suspect.

But as long as that No. 2 berth is available, which it will be for the duration of Sunday’s game, the Colts will be looking to go 6-0 within the division and hopefully emerge with a first round bye.

Jacksonville (4-11, 3-4 road) has nothing left to play for, unless you count securing the highest possible seed in the 2014 NFL Draft. Still, playing spoiler and beating the Colts would be a fine way to close out a season that has looked brighter this last month or so.

The Jaguars were manhandled by the Colts when the two sides met on September 29. The Colts took a 37-3 victory at EverBank Field that afternoon. The Jags will look to prevent a similar score line on Sunday. Unless they won’t and will instead hope for a No. 2 or No. 3 pick in the draft.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts odds for 12/29/2013

Winners of 17 of 25 meetings with the Jaguars, Indianapolis enters the game as the favorite.

The spread opened at 11.5. The Colts (9-6-0 ATS) have fared better against the spread than the Jaguars (5-9-1 ATS) this season, but are just 1-5-0 ATS in their last six games at home against Jacksonville.

The over/under opened at 45.5 and has stayed fairly constant. Both Indianapolis (8-7-0) and Jacksonville (9-6-0) have favored the over this season but the earlier meeting, as well as the four prior to it, saw the total go under.

The Texans and Titans will meet in a (nearly) pointless game.

AFC South Roundup

The Houston Texans (2-13, 1-6 road) will close out a truly miserable season with a trip to the Tennessee Titans (6-9, 2-5 home).

Having lost 13 straight games, the Texans are frontrunners for the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL Draft.  A win against the Titans could jeopardize that pick, depending on a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker with the Washington Redskins.

Tennessee will be picking between No. 9 and No. 15 next May. A loss on Sunday would mean a higher pick. Will the Titans make any effort to beat Houston?

Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans odds for 12/29/2013

Tennessee is the favorite heading into the game, a game that has greater incentives for each side to lose. Must-see-TV this is not.

The spread currently sits at 7. The Titans (6-7-2 ATS) have fared marginally better against the spread than the NFL-worst Texans (3-12-0 ATS).

The over/under opened at 44.5 and has been sliding. Both Tennessee (9-5-1) and Houston (9-6-0) have favored the over, but with nothing to play for, this could easily turn out to be an offense-light day. It could also turn into a shootout.

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