NFL Thursday Night Special – Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Thursday, December 17 – 8:20 PM ET
BetUS NFL football betting odds: INDIANAPOLIS -3, Total 42.5
The Colts are listed as a three-point favorite, with a posted total of 42.5 points.
A lot of the speculation surrounding this game – and what caused a delay in the football betting line going up at BetUS – involved whether the Colts were going to play all their starters, and to what extent those starters were going to play.
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Coach Jim Caldwell had a Tuesday press conference and indicated that it was going to be business as usual. “We’re just going to treat like we have these previous 13 games played,” he said. “If they’re not able to go, if doctors don’t release them to play, they won’t play. That’s the only reason why they won’t go.”
Here are some pro football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
IND has covered its last four games
IND has won its last ten road games SU
IND has covered nine of its last ten road games
JAX has covered two of its last nine games
JAX has won four of its last six games SU
JAX has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
JAX has covered one of its last five home games
JAX has won five of its last six home games SU
Also…
JAX has covered seven of the last ten meetings
IND has won four of the last five meetings SU
Four of the last six meetings have gone OVER the total 
IND has won four of the last five meetings SU as the road team
Six of the last eight meetings in Jacksonville have gone OVER the total
At least it appears as if Indianapolis will not treat this like a pre-season game, even though they have already clinched the home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and set the record for most consecutive regular season wins with 22 in last Sunday’s game against Denver.
Of course, there is this other matter – that of an undefeated regular season and the possibility of true immortality, which could possibly come by way of a matchup with an undefeated New Orleans Saints team in the Super Bowl. I truly wonder whether there is some subtle word coming down from the NFL front office, not to mention CBS, the network that will televise this season’s “Big Game.” There would be an awful lot of extra interest- and money – in a game between two teams where someone’s “0” had to go.
The Colts have been cutting things close since the sixth game of the season, winning by totals of four, three, one and two points, and having some trouble putting away teams like Tennessee and Denver who they beat by bigger margins. Still, they have a 9-4 ATS record in online sports gambling. The season’s opening game, held at Lucas Oil Stadium, was a 14-12 decision over these Jaguars, where Reggie Wayne had 162 yards receiving and Peyton Manning had 301 passing yards, and Jacksonville failed to convert on a two-point try after a fourth quarter touchdown by Maurice Jones-Drew.
Jacksonville looks like the kind of team that would present occasional problems against the Colts, and they have through the years, covering seven of the last ten times these teams have played. In the first meeting, however, the stat sheet made it look like it was not as close as the score indicated. Indianapolis held the overall yardage edge, 365-228, and held the Jags to just 12 first downs. David Garrard completed half his passes and had 122 yards through the air.
The Jags like to pound the ball with their running game, which has averaged 4.6 yards a pop, although in the last three games they’ve totaled only 298 yards, and really, if you’re going to attack this Colts defense, you are probably better off going after the secondary. Quarterback Garrard may be too limited in his options to do that, and the game plan might also limit him to a certain extent. Can Jacksonville limit what Manning can do through the air? Not if they can’t significantly step up the pass rush, which has just 14 sacks, by far the lowest figure in the league.
The Colts have covered all six road games this year, and nine of the last ten. I know that after last week’s loss to Miami the Jags are in for a hell of a fight if they want to make the playoffs, and in a year where Indy had some losses on its record this could be a game the Jags could steal. I don’t see it happening here. We’re going with the more reliable squad, laying a field goal with the Colt.
OUR PLAY: INDIANAPOLIS -3 ***
