Thursday, May 17th, 2012
The Indianapolis Colts will close out their regular season play when they travel to play the Buffalo Bills in an NFL pro football game on Sunday afternoon. Kick off time in Buffalo is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with regional television coverage provided by CBS.
The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the Buffalo Bills were opened as a 7 point favorite with the over under coming in at 36 ½.
The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the home team, as the Buffalo Bills are currently a 9-point favorite. The total has seen early action towards the under, as the over under is currently lined at 35 ½ for the bettors to play into.
NFL money line gamblers can make a play on the favored Buffalo Bills at –410 with the road underdog Indianapolis Colts returning +340 to pull off the upset win without the points on their side.
The Indianapolis Colts enters this game with a record of 14-1 and have clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Expect to see the Colts starters for no more than a series or two in this game as they will most likely rest their starters. The Buffalo Bills are 5-10 on the season and have been eliminated from the playoffs.
The Colts will likely sit starting quarterback Peyton Manning in this game. He will most likely play 2 series or it could be possible for him to play the entire first half. In a little more than a half of action last week it was Manning going 14 of 21 for 192 yards no touchdowns and no picks against the Jets last week. Rookie Curtis Painter will see action in this game. The signal caller hit on only 4 of 11 for 44 yards no touchdowns an interceptions and a critical fumble last week. The Colts were up 15-10 when they pulled Manning and the Jets outscored Indy 19-0 with Painter under center.
With the Colts likely to rest Joseph Addai and Donald Brown expect to see second year running back Mike Hart get the bulk of the carries. The former Michigan Wolverine running back has rushed the ball 16 times for 42 yards on the season.
On the defensive side of the ball the Colts allow just 18 ½ points per game. The Colts do not give up many big plays in the passing game behind their speed in the secondary. The Colts allow just 9.1 yards per completed pass ranking 1st in the NFL. But with nothing to play for expect to see the Colts second string on the field for most of this game.
The Buffalo Bills are losers of 2 straight games and are coming off an embarrassing 31-3 loss at Atlanta last week. The Bills were sloppy committing 3 turnovers and losing the turnover battle with a –3 margin. The Bills offense was non-existent with just 40 yards on the ground and 138 through the air.
Media reports signal the return as starter for the Buffalo Bills to be Ryan Fitzpatrick. He was bothered by a bum ankle that forced him to miss the Falcons game last week. Fitzpatrick has completed 55% of his passes this season with 6 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
On the ground third year pro Fred Jackson has seen the bulk of the carries. He has rushed for 850 yards this season for 4.2 yards a carry average. He is coming off a poor game against the Falcons last week with just 39 yards rushing on 13 carries. We could see third string back Xavier Omon get carries in this game. He has only carried the ball 5 times this season for 22 yards.
The Bills allow over 21 points per game this season. They have been very poor in stopping the run this season. Buffalo is 32nd and last in the NFL against the run allowing 165 yards per game and a very high 4.8 yards a carry average.
For the Latest NFL Odds Please Visit our NFL Odds Page
NFL Trend: Indianapolis Colts are 7-0 ATS in their 7 road games this season
The Wagerline consensus has 76.5 the NFL bettors on Indianapolis Colts –9
The Wagerline consensus has 54.6% the NFL bettors playing over 35 1/2
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