New York Giants vs. Indianapolis Colts
Current Betting Line: Colts -5.5 o/u 48
By
John J. Raspanti
9/19/10
It’s the battle of the brothers as the Colts take on the rejuvenated Giants. Indianapolis started the season on a sOur note by being outplayed and outhustled by the hungry Houston Texans by the score of 34-24. Peyton Manning did his part to try and stop the Colts from losing by completing 40 of 57 passes for 433 yards. Wide receiver Austin Collie caught 10 balls for 131 yards, while tight end Dallas Clark caught 11, plus a score. The running Game could only muster 44 yards, but running isn’t the Colts Game anyway. It was their defense that let them down against the Texans as running back Arian Foster ran wild, going for 231 yards on 33 carries. Matt SChaub was only able to complete barely fifty percent of his passes but it didn’t really matter as the Texans running Game kept Manning and company off the field.
The Giants looked good in upending the Panthers at home 31-18. Eli Manning threw for three scores but was also intercepted three times. Ahmad Bradshaw GAined 76 yards on the ground while Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks both had outstanding Games. Nicks was the main man for Manning catching all three of his touchdown throws. The Giants defense pressured new Panther starter Matt Moore all day and it worked as Moore threw three interceptions. DeAngelo Williams of the Panthers did run pretty well GAining 62 yards on 16 carries. The Giant secondary did a great job on Panthers star receiver Steve Smith holding him to 5 catches for 75 yards and more importantly only 1 score.
The Colts have to find a way to slow down the Giants running Game. They have all week to figure out how and why Foster ran for 231 yards and the thought here is that they will do better against the Giants. Eli Manning still should be able to find some holes and move the ball effectively.
This is the home opener for the Colts so they and their fans will be super fired up and ready to atone for last weekends Texas stumble. Expect them to come out firing on all cylinders with Manning completing passes to Collie and a number of others.
We have to keep in mind that the Colts lost to a very good Texans team on the road, while the Giants beat a very poor Panthers team at home. We can’t overreact to either of those past results. It’s still too early to know where these two teams stand. We generally don’t get involved with the NFL in a serious way until after week 4 is is in the books. By that time, we’ll know much more about these teams. That being said, we’re high on the Giants this year. We expect them to bouNCe back after last years 8-8 season and resemble more the teams that went 14-6 and 12-5 in 2007 and 2008. If we were to play this Game, we’d want +6. If +6 doesn’t show, we’d buy the hook. We’ll take Eli over Peyton here. Giants +6