Sunday Night NFL Betting: New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts
by Mike Rose
Week 10 NFL betting's game of the week heads to Lucas Oil Stadium where the New England Patriots (6-2, 4-4 ATS) will look to derail the perfect season of the Indianapolis Colts (8-0, 5-3 ATS).
If Indianapolis wins this game, it will have a huge leg up in the race for the #1 seed in the AFC. New England will be looking to trim the gap between itself and the Colts to just one game, while at the same time further opening up its commanding lead in the AFC East.
BetUS customers can sink their teeth into all of the NFL point spread Indianapolis (-3) +100 with a game 'total' posted of 49.5.
Even though the Patriots sit at 6-2 this season, it just doesn't feel like this team is as good as the one that went 16-0 two years ago or the one that won three championships. Yes, New England knocked off Miami 27-17 last Sunday afternoon, but the game wasn't a typical dominator like football betting fans saw against Tennessee or Tampa Bay. The offense is putting up its points; averaging 28.1 points per game isn't shabby. However, it just feels like the Pats could do better than put up 409.2 yards of offense per game and 295.0 passing yards per game, especially considering the fact that there have probably only been two playoff teams on the schedule so far this season.
It's equally difficult to complain about a team that is still undefeated like Indianapolis is, but once again, it feels like this is a team that could produce more dominant results. In the first two games of this three-game home stand, the Colts have put together unimpressive victories against both Houston and San Francisco. Alas, they're victories, but neither game was close to a cover, leaving Indy bettors very unhappy. QB Peyton Manning put together another 300+ yard passing performance last week against the Texans, giving him a whopping 2,545 passing yards for the season. Indy is easily the #1 passing team in the game, averaging 315.0 yards per game. The defense is giving up its yards, but only one opponent has figured out how to score more than 17 points on it this season.
Last year, the Colts beat the Patriots 18-15 at the old RCA Dome, but didn't cover the touchdown spread. Indy holds a 4-1 SU and 4-1 ATS advantage in the L/5 meetings between these teams.
A very critical factor in this game is home field advantage. The Patriots have only had two true road games this year (discounting the game against Tampa Bay in England). They were beaten in the Meadowlands by the Jets 16-9 and knocked off by the Broncos at Mile High Stadium 20-17 in overtime. Though those are two very good clubs and two very difficult locations to play, neither game was impressive at all. Look for the Colts to exploit the fact that the Brady Bunch hasn't played a real road game in over a month and come out with a very impressive 'W' in front of the hometown faithful.
Rose's Recommendation: 2* Indianapolis Colts
Rating Scale 1* - 5*
