Thursday Night Football Picks: Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars

The Matchup:
Indianapolis Colts at -3
Jacksonville Jaguars

Thursday Night Football Picks - Analysis for Indianapolis
Last Sunday against the Broncos, the Colts clinched a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs. Now standing at 13-0, coach Jim Caldwell said that they will prepare for their Thursday Night Football matchup the same way they did the previous 13 games. With that said, we can draw the conclusion that Indianapolis will at least start the game with their regulars but are certain to be extra cautious if any player suffers even a minor injury. Personally, I can see players like Joseph Addai and Dallas Clark getting some rest. Clark has taken some punishment this season while Addai has a history of being injured.

Thursday Night Football Picks - Analysis for Jacksonville
In the driver's seat last week, Jacksonville suffered a big loss at the hands of the Miami Dolphins. While they are still very much in the playoff picture, a win would have given Jacksonville a much more comfortable lead. Top receiver Mike Sims-Walker played despite being listed as doubtful. Since they play on Thursday Night Football this week, it's questionable if he'll be able to recover and be at 100% for this game.

Thursday Night Football Picks - Head to Head Analysis
Jacksonville has a few things going for them. They are at home, have Maurice Jones-Drew, and the Colts have already clinched everything they can. In order for them to make this a game, they will first need to control the clock by running the ball effectively with Maurice Jones-Drew. Secondly, they need to put pressure on Peyton Manning. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, they only have 14 sacks all year long, which ranks dead last in the NFL. Peyton Manning is hard for any team to sack, much less the worst sack-producing team in the league. This means Manning should be able to stay clean the entire game, which will prevent coach Caldwell from pulling him out early unless Indianapolis is far ahead. The Jaguars secondary has had problems defending the pass (which goes hand in hand with no pass rush) and the Colts will be able to take full advantage. Even if Indianapolis rests players like Addai and Clark, the Jaguars still won't be able to stop the backups.

Thursday Night Football Picks - Prediction
Some of the Colts regulars might be wearing a baseball cap in the 4th quarter, but it will only be after they've already built an unreachable lead. Maurice Jones-Drew should have a good day running the football against a pretty mediocre Colts rushing defense, but in the end it's not going to be enough. A lot of Sportsbooks have this game off for now, but the ones with it on have the game at -3. Even if the line triples, I still would pick Indy.

Pick: Indianapolis -3

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