New England has beaten Peyton Manning and the Colts 10 of 12 times and the Patriots have never lost to Manning at home as the Colts are 0-9 at New England since 1996. The Patriots are 22-1 against teams with winning records since 2003 and 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10 games as underdogs.
All of this is wonderful to know but that was then and this is now. The Patriots are banged up at a couple of key positions and have allowed over 100 yards rushing in each of the last three games since DE Seymour has been out. That is not good news when you have the Colts? Edgerrin James averaging 114 yards per game and the Colts with the overall 4th rushing offense in the league.
In the offensive backfield, New England is scraping the bottom of the barrel for some relief and newly signed running back Mike Cloud and fullback Heath Evans are not the answer to their problems. With Correy Dillon, Kevin Faulk and Patrick Passall all being hobbled, they are simply out of options and this situation is not be helped by the inexperience of two rookies on the left side of the offensive line. To add to the problems for New England, Indy?s Robert Mathis is tied for the NFL lead with eight sacks, including at least one in the last seven games, while Dwight Freeney has six on the season to give the team a league best 26.
I think Indy will bang away with their running game which should set up nicely for some big opportunities for Manning to unload down field to Harrison and Wayne. I also think that with the key injuries on New England?s side, things are set up as well as they could be for that string of trends to come to an end tonight in Foxboro.
3* - Indianapolis (-4)
All of this is wonderful to know but that was then and this is now. The Patriots are banged up at a couple of key positions and have allowed over 100 yards rushing in each of the last three games since DE Seymour has been out. That is not good news when you have the Colts? Edgerrin James averaging 114 yards per game and the Colts with the overall 4th rushing offense in the league.
In the offensive backfield, New England is scraping the bottom of the barrel for some relief and newly signed running back Mike Cloud and fullback Heath Evans are not the answer to their problems. With Correy Dillon, Kevin Faulk and Patrick Passall all being hobbled, they are simply out of options and this situation is not be helped by the inexperience of two rookies on the left side of the offensive line. To add to the problems for New England, Indy?s Robert Mathis is tied for the NFL lead with eight sacks, including at least one in the last seven games, while Dwight Freeney has six on the season to give the team a league best 26.
I think Indy will bang away with their running game which should set up nicely for some big opportunities for Manning to unload down field to Harrison and Wayne. I also think that with the key injuries on New England?s side, things are set up as well as they could be for that string of trends to come to an end tonight in Foxboro.
3* - Indianapolis (-4)
