Thursday Night Football: Colts vs. Jags

Indianapolis Colts-3  vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

The first time these teams met, a failed two-point conversion by the Jaguars in the fourth quarter was all that separated these two in Indianapolis’ 14-12 victory in the season opener. The Colts have already clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, and appear to have no interest in pursuing a perfect record…making this game hard to pick.

On one hand the Colts don’t want a divisional rival to be the ones to hand them their first loss, while on the other hand…who cares, it’s the Super Bowl they’re after.

Indianapolis is 6-2 all-time at Jacksonville, and 5-0-1 against the spread on the road this season.  Keep in mind though, the Indianapolis injury report is as long as some team’s rosters. Most players are just banged up and will play, but Colts coach Jim Caldwell has said only his “healthy” starters will play in Thursday night’s game, meaning DE’s Dwight Freeney (abdomen) and Robert Mathis (quad) who are listed as questionable are most likely out.

Feature back Maurice Jones-Drew is in a slump and the best way to get him out of it is to feed him the ball against the Colts’ banged-up front seven. Jones-Drew can easily take over a game with his blend of power and speed; he has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time, is averaging 4.5 yards per carry, and has 14 rushing TD’s.

Our Thoughts:

The Jaguars see this game as a must win even though they are right now sitting in a playoff spot, while the Colts just see extra time off being in an early Thursday game and could really care less if they win or lose. While our picks have been on fire lately, the Thursday games have been difficult…wait, who picks the Browns…really, they’ve been hard to pick for everybody.

We like the Jaguars in an upset as too many factors come into play Thursday: home field, Colts injuries, and the chance the Jaguars lock in closer to a playoff spot. Expect a high scoring entertainment grudge match.

Jaguars 29-27

Gridiron Experts picks overall: 143-66  | ATS:113-96

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