A pivotal AFC South showdown gets the Week 10 action underway as the 5-3 Indianapolis Colts are in Nashville for a matchup with the 6-2 Tennessee Titans inside Nissan Stadium on Thursday night. This is the first of two meetings between the division rivals in the next 17 days, with the rematch scheduled for Week 12 in Indianapolis. The two teams split the season series a year ago, but the Colts have won three out of the last four meetings overall.
Rollin’ on the Rivers
The Colts had won two in a row before the Ravens came to town in Week 9 and emerged victorious for the first time ever in Indianapolis, extending their NFL best road win streak to ten in the process and exploiting Indy’s turnover tendencies in the process. The Colts held a three-point advantage at halftime but failed to score the rest of the way, ultimately falling 24-10. A would-be incompletion that was overturned into a Ravens interception, leading to a Baltimore touchdown, swung the entire complexion of the game and had Colts’ players fuming.
The loss dropped the Colts out of first place and a full game back of Thursday’s opponent in the division.
Titan (Back) Up
At the conclusion of Week 6, only three teams were left without a loss on their resume. The Steelers, the Seahawks, and the Titans, all at 5-0. Two weeks later, though, Tennessee still only had five wins after dropping two straight to Pittsburgh and then Cincinnati in an effortless letdown. This past Sunday, Tennessee righted the ship and took down the Bears at home. The Titans won by a touchdown, but held a 17-point lead at one point and dominated for the most part, indicating the margin was closer than most of the game would indicate.
Derrick Henry was held to 68 yards rushing against a tough Chicago D, his second-fewest this season, but he still finds himself second in the NFL in rushing yards in what has become a two-horse race with Dalvin Cook of the Vikings.
Betting Line and Pick
The Titans are installed as 2-point favorites in this one with an over/under of 49. The Colts are 2-2 ATS on the road while the Titans are 3-2 ATS at home.
Philip Rivers needs to protect the football. His seven interceptions are tied for the fifth-most in the NFL. But his teammates need to hold onto the pigskin too. A Jonathan Taylor fumble was returned for a touchdown on Sunday, and they’ll be facing a defense on Thursday that has forced the most turnovers in the NFL (10). Newly-acquired Desmond King even got in on the fun in his first game as a Titan with a scoop and score after a David Montgomery fumble.
The Colts are tough on defense too. The matchup to watch will be Henry against that side of the ball for Indy, who are allowing the third-fewest rush yards per game and the third-fewest points per game this season.
The Colts are 5-0-1 ATS in their last six games following a double-digit loss at home and 4-0-1 ATS in their last five after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game. We’ll take the points, though it has come down from an opening line of 3.
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