Cleveland Browns (0-1) vs. Indianapolis Colts (0-1)
Time/Date: 1:00 PM EST, September 18, 2011
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium
Broadcast: CBS
Browns vs. Colts Gambling Odds from BetOnline
Spread: Browns -2.5
Moneyline: Browns (-135) Colts (+115)
Over/Under: 40
Peyton Manning is on the shelf for quite a while, and the Indianapolis Colts showed just how badly they miss him last weekend. The Browns were expected to roll over the lowly Bengals, but Cincinnati beat Cleveland in the season opener. Both of these teams had to be extremely disappointed with their performance in week one. Which team will bounce back with a big win?
Colt McCoy and the Browns offense just never really got it going against the Bengals defense. McCoy threw two touchdowns and one interception, but he completed only 47.5% of his passes last week. The running game really struggled to get going, because the Browns offensive front just couldn’t get much of a push against Cincinnati. Peyton Hillis continued to show his value out of the backfield. Hillis caught six passes, three more than any other Brown did last weekend. Cleveland will certainly be looking to get Hillis more than 17 carries this week against the Colts.
The Cleveland defense really blew it when they got caught napping in the fourth quarter last weekend by the Bengals. Cincinnati quick snapped while the Browns were still in the huddle, and A.J. Green was wide open for a 41 yard touchdown reception. The Browns pass defense was pretty solid for most of the game, but they did allow too many yards on the ground. Cedric Benson put up 121 yards rushing. Joe Haden and T.J. Ward lead a talented secondary for Cleveland. I expect them to be ready to bounce back this week. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
There were plenty of questions about how Kerry Collins would perform as the Colts starter before last weekend. After last weekend’s drubbing, there are even more questions now. Collins numbers actually weren’t that awful last week, but those who watched the game saw that this Colts offense really struggled to get into a groove last weekend. Collins had two costly fumbles, and the running game never got going at all against the Texans. Clearly this is an offense that will have to try to score in different ways without Manning at the helm. It will be interesting to see what kind of changes they make to the game plan this week.
It was the Colts run defense that really let them down last week. Despite Arian Foster being out of the lineup, Houston still ran for 167 yards. Ben Tate had 116 yards rushing in his first career start. Over the past few years, the Colts front seven has had a lot of difficulty stopping the run. Indianapolis has a solid secondary and two very god pass rushers in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, but the middle of the defense must improve against the run. They’ll be tested by Hillis and the Browns in this one.
I don’t expect the Colts to play nearly as bad as they did a week ago. The Browns secondary is pretty good, and the Colts aren’t a good running team. At the same time, I could see the Colts getting to Colt McCoy fairly often here. I think this one has the makings of an ugly low scoring game.
Free NFL Pick: Under 40
