Next up for the Indianapolis Colts is a road matchup with the New England Patriots. Who do the NFL experts have winning this matchup?
After falling to Detroit last week, the Colts now sit at 5-7 on the season and are barely hanging on to their playoff hopes–two games back of the seventh-seed Denver Broncos.
Only one of the Colts’ remaining five games come against a team over the .500 mark–and it just so happens to be the Broncos–so making a run is still possible. However, after a mistake-filled game against the Lions, the Colts have to make sure they take care of their own business before worrying about others.
The Patriots sit at 3-9 and have a promising young quarterback in Drake Maye, but a lot has been on his plate. Indianapolis will enter this game 4-1 against teams below .500 this season–can that winning trend continue?
ESPN
Two of the three ESPN staff members making these picks are picking the Colts to win. All three predictions were fairly low scoring and decided by three points or fewer. ESPN’s FPI projection model has the Colts winning this game 61.4 percent of the time and by an average margin of 4.4 points.
NFL.com
Four of the five predictors are taking the Colts to win. Noted by Gennaro Filice is the importance of the Indianapolis offense getting Jonthan Taylor going, which has been a struggled behind shaky offensive line play over the last month-plus.
Bleacher Report
Another several predictions that favor the Colts, with six of the eight Bleacher Report staff members picking Indianapolis to win. Brent Sobleski was one of the two who picked the Patriots, who mentioned the up and down play of the Colts’ offense, along with Maye being able to find some success against a defense that has given up a lot of yards through the air.
CBS Sports
Pete Prisco is picking the Colts to win 23-17. Against a struggling New England defense, Prisco expects both Richardson and Taylor to have “good days,” leading the Colts to the victory.
Pro Football Talk
We have a split here. Mike Florio is picking the Patriots to win by a full touchdown, while Chris Simms is picking the Colts to win by a touchdown. The two obviously have differing opinions on how this game will play out. For what it’s worth, Florio is 120-59 on picks this season and Simms is 116-63.
Sports Illustrated
The Monday Morning Quarterback crew is mostly in favor of the Colts in this one. Of the six predictions, four of them are picking Indianapolis.
