Two teams that are accustomed to playing for the postseason limp to the year’s midpoint Sunday when the Indianapolis Colts (2-5) travel to Paul Brown Stadium to take on the Cincinnati Bengals (2-4).
The game will be broadcast on CBS at 1 p.m. EST.
The Game: Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals (-10.5)
O/U: 42.0
The History
The Bengals and Colts have played 29 times with Indy holding a 19-10 advantage.
They last faced off on January 4, 2015 in the playoffs with the Colts winning 26-10 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (2-5)
When is Andrew Luck going to play this season? The answer should be, he’s not. He’s missed half the year and the Colts are playing for all of jack and shit. Chuck Pagano should be fired at the end of the season and the only reason he would toss Luck out there is to try to keep that from happening. Jim Irsay is an idiot, but even he’s not stupid enough to keep Pagano on the sidelines another season.
No, the Colts job is too good with a healthy Luck so Irsay would be smart (he isn’t) to make the call from ownership that Luck is done for the year. It would be the best thing for the team all the way around. They get a new head coach, have a healthy Luck and get a high draft pick. If the draft were held today, Indianapolis would have the No. 4 pick. Considering quarterbacks will probably go No. 1 and No. 2 and maybe No. 3 too. That means that the Colts are sitting right on the Saquon Barkley pick and pairing him with a healthy Luck should make every AFC defensive coach suffer a tightened sphincter.
In the meantime, Indianapolis still has to suffer through this season. Jacoby Brissett hasn’t been a disaster at quarterback. In fact, trading for him right before the season started is one of the few smart moves this team made. The Frank Gore farewell tour put up just 34 yards on the ground last week and Brissett had trouble locating T.Y. Hilton, who caught two passes for 27 yards.
In addition to Luck, the Colts are without rookie safety Malik Hooker for the rest of the year after tearing up his knee. He was one of the best rookie defenders in the league and already had three picks. Other than those two, only Reshaan Melvin and John Simon are listed as out.
CINCINNATI BENGALS (2-4)
The Bengals are still meandering to the end of the season, but with the elevation of Bill Lazor to offensive coordinator, they’re at least on the upswing. The Pittsburgh Steelers game was a defeat when the schedule came out in the off-season, so you can’t hold that against them. Nostradamus wrote about it in a quatrain and if you asked a crystal skull about the Bengals’ chances in that game, it would grow eyes just to roll them at you.
That’s not the loss that has killed Cincinnati’s season. It’s the loss to the Ravens on opening weekend. This should be a 3-3 Bengals squad with designs of getting to Thanksgiving 7-4. It could still happen. After the Colts, they face the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tennessee Titans, the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, all but the Browns game is on the road. How Cincy does over this stretch will determine if they get to .500. I think the playoffs are already out of reach.
But, hey, there’s still this game and the Bengals have the advantage on both sides of the ball. In spite of coming off some crappy performances last week, I expect quarterback Andy Dalton and rookie running back Joe Mixon to have good games against Indy and A.J. Green will catch as many passes as he wants against the Colts’ secondary.
The Pick
Again, Colts fans. This shit happens and, trust me, you’ll be glad it did if you get the right head coach in there. Do you think the Eagles are fretting over firing Chip Kelly after the 2015 season? How about the Rams and Jeff Fisher? It can turn around fast. Root against your team. It’ll be for the best. Bengals 31, Colts 19
This week
Straight up: 0-1
Against the spread: 0-1
Last week
Straight up: 12-3
Against the spread: 7-8
Season
Straight up: 60-46
Against the spread: 50-56
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