For the first time since 2012, the Indianapolis Colts visit the Detroit Lions with a 1 p.m. ET kickoff from Ford Field in the NFL’s Week 8 on Sunday. The Colts opened as 2.5-point favourites on the NFL odds with a total of 50.5.

NFL Week 8 Point Spread and Betting Analysis

One story line here is that it’s almost surely the last time ever that quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Matthew Stafford face off with Rivers almost at the end of his career. Both were very high draft picks – Rivers No. 4 overall in 2004 and Stafford No. 1 overall in 2009 – who have put up Hall of Fame regular-season numbers but have been playoff failures for the most part.

Neither has reached a Super Bowl; the Colts have a small chance of doing so this year and the Lions none. Rivers is 5-6 in career playoff games, all coming with the Chargers. He simply had the misfortune of playing in the same conference with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger (Big Ben still in the AFC). Stafford is 0-3 in his playoff career and hasn’t been there since 2016.

Both teams are also led by third-year coaches in Indy’s Frank Reich and Detroit’s Matt Patricia. Reich is on very solid ground with the Colts, but Patricia probably is gone after this season barring the Lions having a terrific second half.

Detroit opened the 2016 season at Indianapolis and won 39-35 in the last meeting. Matt Prater hit the go-ahead field goal from 43 yards out with four seconds left and then there was a safety on the final play. Stafford was tremendous in throwing for 340 yards and three scores.

The teams have split the past eight meetings against the spread (ATS).

Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis comes off its bye week and is contending in the AFC South, although Tennessee is the division favourite. Both Houston and Jacksonville are lousy, so either the Titans or Colts will win it, and the second-place finisher has a good shot at a Wild-Card spot with the expanded field in place.

Indy entered the break off a 31-27 home win over the Bengals, rallying from down 21-0 in the second quarter. It tied for Indianapolis’ second-largest comeback win in franchise history. Rivers has continued to struggle with turnovers this season, and he may well have been benched for good in favour of Jacoby Brissett if not leading that comeback. Rivers ended up throwing for 371 yards with three TDs and a pick. The Colts played their second game in a row without All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard with a groin injury, but he should be good to go for this one. The Colts are 1-4-1 ATS in their past six road games.

Detroit Lions

Maybe the Lions are on their way to saving Patricia’s job as they have won two straight and three of four to get to .500. They absolutely shouldn’t have won Sunday in Atlanta, but Falcons running back Todd Gurley stupidly scored a touchdown in the final minute – the Lions let him do that as they figured their best chance of winning was to get their offence the ball. Gurley should haven fallen down at the 1-yard-line and then Atlanta could have run off all but a few seconds and kicked the winning chip-shot field goal.

Instead, Stafford hit tight end TJ Hockenson from 11 yards out with no time remaining for the 23-22 stunner (after the made PAT). He threw for 340 yards. It was the 30th fourth-quarter comeback of Stafford’s career, tying him for eighth all-time in league history. Top cornerback Desmond Trufant missed the game due to injury. Detroit is 0-7 ATS in its past seven Week 8 games.

NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Colts vs. Lions?