Thursday, February 9th, 2012
The Indianapolis Colts will travel in a short week to battle AFC South division rival the Jacksonville Jaguars in an NFL football game on Thursday night in prime time. Kick off time at Jacksonville is scheduled for 8:20PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NFL Network. The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the Indianapolis Colts have opened as a 6 ½ point favorite with the over under coming in at 46 ½. The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the home underdog, as the Indianapolis Colts are currently a 2-½ point favorite. The total has seen early action towards the under, as the over under is currently lined at 41 ½. NFL money line gamblers can make a play on the favored Indianapolis Colts at –145 with the home underdog Jacksonville Jaguars bringing back +125 to win without the point spread a factor in the money line bet.
Indianapolis is a perfect 13-0 on the season and has clinched home field throughout the entire AFC playoffs. The line on this game came out on Tuesday as bookmakers were trying to figure out the Indianapolis Colts motivation in this game. The question is whether the team will be full out going for a perfect 16-0 season or will the Indianapolis Colts shut it down and rest starters like they have done in recent seasons with nothing to play for. In their first meeting this season with the Jaguars in week 1 it was the Indianapolis Colts pulling out a 14-12 home victory as a 6 point favorite. Peyton Manning was able to move the ball through the air with 294 passing yards on the Jaguars defense but the Colts had a –2-turnover margin in the game. Peyton Manning is scheduled to start and the 12-year veteran is hitting on 68% of his passes with 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. It has been reported that Manning has been playing with a sore glute muscle. He only completed 47.6% of his passes last week against Denver. That was the worst passing day Manning has had in two seasons. Colts head coach Jim Caldwell told the media that he would play healthy starters in this game. The Colts had impact defensive lineman Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis miss practice this week making this handicap an extreme puzzle. Peyton Manning’s backup is rookie quarterback Curtis Painter. The rookie from Purdue has not thrown a pass during the season. The number two starter Jim Sorgi is out for the year due to injury. On the ground Joseph Addai is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry on the season. That is not too encouraging should Curtis Painter see action in this game. Defensively the Colts allow 16.7 points per game. Jacksonville needs this game very badly as they are currently holding the last playoff spot in the AFC by tiebreaker. The Jaguars are coming off a huge 14-10 loss to Miami last week that tightened the race in the AFC. Starting quarterback David Garrard has hit on 60% of his passes this season with 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Garrard had a poor game last week hitting on just 11 of his 26 passes for 139 yards no touchdowns and no picks against the Dolphins. Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew has struggled the past two weeks with just a 3.2 yards a carry average two weeks ago against Houston and only 3.3 last week against the Dolphins. On the defensive side the Jaguars allow opposing quarterbacks to complete 65.9% of their passes ranking 29th in the league.
For the Latest NFL Odds Please Visit our NFL Odds Page
NFL Trend: Indianapolis Colts are 6-0 ATS in their past 6 games on Thursday nights
The Wagerline consensus has 81.8% of the NFL bettors on Indianapolis Colts –2 1/2
The Wagerline consensus has 67.5% the NFL bettors playing over 41 1/2
Tags: indianapolis colts versus jacksonville jaguars nfl network tv pro football betting odds pick preview, nfl betting odds
