Thursday Night Football Betting Picks & Lines: Indianapolis Colts vs Tennessee Titans
In a crucial game where the winner will take the No1 spot in the AFC South, the Colts (5-3 SU, 4-4 ATS) travel to Nashville to take on the Titans (6-2 SU, 3-5 ATS) in this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football. Tennessee will look to further build up their momentum after coming out victorious against Chicago last week, while Indianapolis hopes to bounce back from the home defeat at the hands of the Ravens. The Colts have had the upper hand in this Thursday night football betting matchup recently, winning on 7 out of the last 8 trips to Nashville.
Thursday Night Football Betting Line Movement For The Indianapolis Colts vs Tennessee Titans
The Titans opened the week as -2.5 favorites, but with a lot of action going the Colts’ way, the line has shrunk to -1 before going up again and now stands at -2. The total started at 50 but has dropped a bit and it’s 48.5 at the Thursday night football betting moment.
Notes on Indianapolis
The jury is still out on the quality of this Colts team as they continue with inconsistent performances, and with most of their wins coming against the below-.500 opponents. Last week, they lost to the Ravens, and once again their offense had struggled to get going with Philip Rivers throwing for only 227 yards with no touchdowns and 1 interception. However, their defense, which ranks at the top of the league, managed to keep them in the game until the fourth quarter. Indianapolis now faces a three-week stretch playing the Titans twice and the Packers that should tell us if they indeed are the legitimate playoff contenders.
As we said already, Philip Rivers has been anything but reliable this season, but this week he takes on one of the worst pass defenses in the league with the Titans allowing 275 yards per game through the air. This may be the game for Rivers to shine and the potential of his good performance also increases the value of WR Zach Pascal who’s waiting for his first touchdown after two barren weeks. T.Y. Hilton may return, but he’ll probably be limited and shouldn’t influence Pascal’s load that much.
Notes on Tennessee
The Titans are 4-1 at the Nissan stadium this season and will look to extend that streak against the Colts, and effectively claim the AFC South. Last week, they had a nice win against the Bears, although their performance will give Mike Vrabel plenty to worry about. The Bears outgained them 375-228 and managed to shut down star RB Derick Henry keeping him to only 68 yards. The ground attack is the heart and soul of the Tennessee offense and Henry will have to do much better if the Titans are to get anything against the Indy defense which has been near perfect this whole campaign.
QB Ryan Tannehill threw for only 158 yards last week but was very efficient with two passes for a touchdown. With the Colts defense focusing on Derick Henry, Tannehill may get some more space to work with on Thursday and has a very high fantasy ceiling this week. WR A.J. Brown could also benefit from the defense focus on the running game and extend a streak of solid performances since returning five Thursday night football betting games ago.
Thursday Night Football Betting Pick: Indianapolis Colts +2
Colts are 5-1 against the spread in the last six games following home losses, and we expect that trend to continue this week. Their defense should be able to prevent a monster game from Derick Henry, and Philip Rivers could do well enough against Tennessee’s poor pass rushing to keep the Colts actively in the Thursday night football betting game.
