Indianapolis Colts (4-0) at Tennessee Titans (0-4)
Before the season, Sunday’s night’s Indianapolis at Tennessee game looked like a key matchup in the AFC South. Now? It’s just one game closer for Indy to clinch the division and one more nail in the winless Titans’ coffin.
The Colts are 3.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
Look for Peyton Manning to have a huge game. He has started the season with four consecutive 300-yard passing games for the first time in his Hall of Fame career. Manning, who is 9-5 in his career against the Titans with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, is completing a career-high 71 percent of his passes and is averaging a career-high 9.8 yards per pass attempt. Manning has thrown for 300 yards or more four times against the Titans, but Indy is just 2-2 in those games. The Colts lead the league in 80-plus-yard TD drives this season. Indianapolis has just 19 “3-and-out” drives in 2009 — fewest of any team in the league.
Tennessee’s defense is ranked 31st last the pass, having allowed three 300-yard games through the air already. That unit is allowing nearly double the points it did last season despite having 10 starters back from the team that was an NFL-best 13-3 in 2008.
On offense, Kerry Collins has struggled big time at QB for the Titans, leading some to wonder if it’s time to let Vince Young start. Collins is just one interception short of his total of last season. Titans RB Chris Johnson is setting the NFL rushing pace with 434 yards (6.3 per carry). But the team can’t seem to do anything on first down, putting Collins in must-throw downs. An amazing 38 percent of Tennessee’s first-down plays this season have gone for zero or negative yardage.
Still, there are reasons to think the Titans have a shot on Sunday. For example, three of their losses have come on the road, and two have been decided by a field goal. They have split the past four meetings in this series, and the Colts could be without cornerbacks Kelvin Hayden (officially out) and Marlin Jackson (questionable), as well as star safety Bob Sanders (doubtful). Indy will get back starting linebacker Gary Brackett, however.
Indy has the longest current winning regular-season winning streak in the NFL at 13 games. The Colts are 4-3 at LP Field since 2002.
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