Colts Giving 3 1/2 at Tennessee

NFL News - October 7th, 2009 - Written by John

Poor Jim Sorgi. While teams like Miami, Cleveland, Seattle and St. Louis toil in quarterbacking misery, here he sits quietly on the sidelines without a start to his name. Since being drafted out of Wisconsin six years ago, watching college teammates like Chris Chambers star in the league, Sorgi has been one of the longest tenured quarterbacks to be without a start and only has 99 career attempts. And the future doesn't look much better. Just because Peyton Manning is getting older, that doesn't mean he is slowing down. In fact, he's only gotten better.

Manning is the highest rated passer this year with nine touchdowns and only three interceptions. He is tied with Drew Brees for most scores after he tied Fran Tarkenton for third on the all-time list last week.

His hot start has propelled the Indianapolis Colts to the top of the division with a 4-0 record and are favored this week to handle the surprise Titans. And not surprise in a good way. Tennessee was pegged to contend for the AFC South after starting 10-0 last year and locking up the AFC's top spot in the playoffs. But Chris Johnson's 294 total yards in a loss to the Texans has been their lone bright spot and find themselves miserably out of the race.

Looking at the NFL Week 5 Betting Odds, Indianapolis is giving up 3 1/2 points, according to BetUS, with an over/under of 45 1/2.

Their defense has been fluffy and Kerry Collins has not been the symbol of stability as he was last year. It's even prompted fans to rally for back-up Vince Young.

But this game has the potential to be an upset and give Tennessee it's first win. Indianapolis is at-best troubled against the run -- ranking 17th in yards allowed and 22nd in touchdowns allowed -- and that's what the Titans do best. Chris Johnson is the NFL's leading rusher with 434 yards and is third with 6.3 yards per attempt.

But the Colts have history on their side. They have beaten Tennessee Titans on the road four out of the last five times and this may be their best start of any of those years. Their young players have really stepped up to fill the void left by Marvin Harrison and injured Anthony Gonzalez. Rookie Donald Brown has been a pleasant surprise in the backfield as a platoon for Joseph Addai, totaling 125 yards receiving and 132 yards rushing.

Wideouts Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon each have two touchdowns through the air.

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