NFL Betting Preview for January 2, 2010: Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts (-9.5)

Online Sportsbook Preview:

At the mid-season point, this game looked like it would have a different connotation that it has now. Prior to Tennessee quarterback Vince Young’s meltdown, the NFL betting online was heavily favoring the Titans. Now the online football betting experts have seen Peyton Manning get his game back together and the Colts have responded. The Titans have remained strong through a series of challenging events, but they are out of the playoffs and must now try to play the role of spoiler.

The Colts have learned that, as Peyton Manning goes, so goes the Colts offense. While that is not a surprise to anyone involved in NFL picks, it was more evident this year than previous years. As injuries started to hit the Colts, they needed to rely on their depth. When Manning was throwing interceptions, the Colts were losing. Now that Manning is getting the ball to his young receivers and cutting back on mistakes, Indianapolis is in a position to clinch the AFC South.

Offense:
The Titans offense started this season looking like a dangerous unit. But when quarterback Vince Young hit a rough spot about four weeks into the season, he crumbled rather than recover. Kerry Collins was put in to replace Young on a few occasions, Young had another mid-season meltdown and the Titans had to watch their season spiral out of control again. Running back Chris Johnson has rush for 1,325 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. But he has been overshadowed by receivers dropping passes and an offense that cannot score points. The Titans do not have a receiver that is even remotely close to 1,000 yards for the season.

Peyton Manning cut down on the interceptions and running back Joseph Addai is healthy and playing again. Wide receivers Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne are putting up impressive numbers, and the Colts offense looks like it is back on track again.

Defense:
Even when they are healthy, the Colts defense has problems. The Colts’ last three games were wins, but the team has allowed an average of 25 points against in each game. The run defense seems to be working out just fine, but the Colts secondary is not stopping big plays down the field. The Colts have been winning games, but if they did not have Peyton Manning at quarterback then the Colts would be out of the playoffs by now. Indianapolis needs to get more production from their secondary if they are going to make any serious moves in the playoffs.

The Titans defense is ranked 28th against the pass and 20th against the run. Their defensive front line cannot seem to put any sustained pressure on the quarterback, or consistently shut down the opposing team’s running game. Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher has to be seeing Peyton Manning standing untouched in the backfield picking apart the Titans secondary in his nightmares this week.

The Bottom Line:
The Titans have done this collapse pretty regularly for the last few years. Some years the collapse involves Vince Young, some years it does not. The Colts need this game to clinch the AFC South and secure themselves a playoff spot, so they will take advantage of the chaos in Tennessee to leapfrog into the post-season.

BSN Sports Pick: Indianapolis Colts