Bills vs. Colts Point Spread: NFL Week 10 Odds, Prediction
The 7-2 Bills have won four consecutive games, are running away with the AFC East division, and continuing to enjoy the dividends of having a freak athlete under centre in Josh Allen. The 4-5 Colts have their own freak athlete under center in Anthony Richardson but turns out being a good quarterback is important too… as the Bills have discovered in their success with Allen.
Indianapolis is finding out the growing problems of an undeveloped-Richardson, and have since turned to the 39-year-old Flacco to save their season. With that responsibility, Flacco and the Colts’ offence generated three points last week. Apparently that was still good enough to keep Richardson the sideline against Buffalo.
Kickoff at Lucas Oil Stadium gets going at 1 p.m. EST with the Bills a -210 moneyline favourite on the road and the total at 48 on the NFL odds.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The saving grace this week for a Colts club back below .500 is home field. Indianapolis is 3-1 outright and 4-0 ATS at Lucas Oil Stadium this season. The Colts also hold a six-game home win streak over Buffalo. Head-to-head, Buffalo’s covered twice in their last six meetings with the Colts. But this is one of those matchups where the history is in the past.
It’s difficult to ignore Buffalo’s 28.9 points per contest (fourth in the NFL). NFL MVP favourite Josh Allen has a lot to do with Buffalo’s top-tier offence, which matches up great against a Colts defence giving up the fourth-most yards per outing (383.6). Buffalo’s reached at least 30 points in three straight weeks and it’s tough to see how the Bills don’t go over their team total of 26.5 this Sunday.
Buffalo Bills
The depth of the Bills offence is showing up. Without receiver Amari Cooper (wrist) last week, Buffalo had just three receivers catch a pass yet still put up 30 points on offence. Backup running back Ray Davis stepped up with a 63-yard score through the air and tight end Quintin Morris also was on the receiving end of a score that was made possible because of Josh Allen.
There’s a chance Cooper returns to the Bills offence this week, but something to monitor is rookie receiver Keon Coleman, who missed Wednesday’s practice with his own wrist injury. Coleman’s one of two Bills wideouts with over 400 receiving yards and his three receiving scores are tied for the team lead, as the 2nd-round pick has become Buffalo’s new deep threat.
Indianapolis Colts
It’s not yet time to hit the panic the button in Indianapolis, but an uninspiring performance Sunday would then warrant the full-on panic; and that’s very much on the table. All 13 of Indianapolis’ points last weekend were either generated by their defence or penalties. After what looked to be a promising start for Flacco as the Colts new starter, turned into a disaster.
And the bigger problem is when Flacco can’t move around, or move the ball through the air, that limits the effectiveness of Jonathan Taylor in the backfield. Taylor’s 13 carries for 48 yards stat line in Week 9 speaks for itself — it’s not good enough. And if the youngsters in the Colts secondary can’t (and likely won’t) contain Josh Alllen’s offence, it’ll feel like déjà vu for Flacco’s unit: playing catch-up with no threat of a running attack.
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IND