Colts Favored By 3 Over Lions on Saturday

NFL News - August 29th, 2009 - Written by Glen

The Indianapolis Colts will travel to Detroit on Saturday to take on the Lions at 1pm. Both teams come into the contest with records of 1-1. The Colts had their loss against Minnesota and have defeated Philadelphia last week to earn their first preseason victory. Detroit squeaked by Atlanta in week one of the preseason and lost last week to Cleveland. With back ups getting most of the reps in the first two games, both teams should have their starters in for the majority of the game. Probably the big question mark is how long will Peyton Manning play?. Both teams are reporting no injuries for Saturday's game.

Over the next two games, fans should probably see the Colts offense start to come alive with Manning getting the majority of snaps. The number one and two wide receiver spots are already penciled in with Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez. The other two spots however remain unclear, but it seems as though Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie should occupy them by the start of the season. Joseph Addai has locked up the starting running back position but fans should look for rookie Donald Brown to possibly make some noise against the not so stellar Lions defense. Over the first two preseason games, the Colts are averaging 335 yards per game and 23 points.

The Lions need one of their two quarterbacks who are vying for the starting job to emerge. Rookie Matt Stafford and veteran Daunte Culpepper are in a heated competition for the starting job. The lions have reported that Culpepper will get the start on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how Stafford comes back from throwing two interceptions in the previous two games that were ran back for touchdowns. They must get the offense going. They are only averaging 268 yards per game and 16 points. The Lions are really struggling on the defensive side of the ball. Through the first two preseason games, they have given up an average of 26 points per game. The Colts running backs should have big days against the Lions.

Odds makers have the Colts being favored in this game. The Colts are picked to win by three with the payout being even according to Bodog. The Lions are three point underdogs with a payout of -120. The over/under is set at 40 points. It seems that Detroit will have to buckle down on defense to come out ahead in this matchup.

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