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Ricky Rothstein
Packers vs. Colts Point Spread: NFL Hall Of Fame Game
We haven’t had NFL action since Sunday, Feb. 7, when the Denver Broncos upset the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. But the NFL returns six months exactly from the Super Bowl with the annual Hall of Fame exhibition game this Sunday from Canton, Ohio, with the Green Bay Packers facing the Indianapolis Colts. The game is a pick’em on Sports Interaction NFL odds with the total at 35.5. The Colts are slight -125 favourites on the moneyline.
Hall of Fame Game: Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Point Spread: Pick’em
Over/under: 35.5
Date: Sunday, Aug. 7, 8 p.m. ET
Location:Canton, Ohio
Green Bay Packers
Let me start by saying that preseason records mean absolutely nothing. The 1985 Chicago Bears, for example, are considered by many as the greatest single-season team in NFL history. That club was 1-3 in the preseason. The Tennessee Titans were 2-2 last preseason and then won all of three regular-season games. So take any result with a grain of salt.
Mostly, teams simply want to stay healthy in these exhibition games, so you aren’t likely to see the starters play much (if at all in some cases) in this game. Green Bay is going to be especially cautious this season. Why? Because it lost top receiver Jordy Nelson to a torn ACL last preseason and it really hurt the Packers. In 2014, Nelson was a first-team All-Pro when he caught 98 passes for 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Packers led the NFL in scoring at 30.4 points per game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers won his second career NFL MVP Award, the team won 12 regular-season games and reached the NFC Championship Game. Without Nelson last year, the Packers were 15th in scoring at 23.0 points per game, Rodgers had one of his worst seasons, the team won 10 regular-season games and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to Arizona.
You won’t see Nelson on Sunday or in any preseason game this year. Nelson’s ACL tear is completely healed but now he’s dealing with some problems in the other knee, a result of tendinitis from overcompensating during rehab. Rodgers probably plays one series at most; last year, he played in only the team’s first two preseason games. By playing in the Hall of Fame Game, the Packers and Colts are the only teams who will have five exhibition games this year.
Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis won 11 games in each of quarterback Andrew Luck’s first three seasons and made the playoffs in each of those years. But the Colts slipped to 8-8 last year as Luck was limited to seven games due to injury. Still, Luck became the NFL’s highest-paid player in late June.
If you are wondering why these teams were chosen for this game, it’s because the NFL tries to schedule teams who have members being inducted into the Hall of Fame that weekend. Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre and ex-Colts receiver Marvin Harrison and coach Tony Dungy all will be inducted on Saturday. Favre held most major NFL passing records when he retired, although since-retired Peyton Manning passed him in yardage and touchdown passes. Harrison holds every major Colts receiving record, including the NFL single-season record of 143 catches. The Colts won a Super Bowl under Dungy, who also coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Colts vs. Packers Odds
The Colts and Packers do play this regular season, on Nov. 6 at Lambeau Field. Both teams are expected to play it very vanilla on Sunday so as to not give any advance scouting help to the opponent. Also, you would never see a total that low in an NFL regular-season game, but exhibition games are a lot sloppier and of course the starters don’t play the whole way. Last year’s Hall of Fame Game saw the Vikings beat the Steelers 14-3.
It’s the fifth Hall of Fame Game for both the Packers and Colts. Green Bay is 1-2-1, last playing in 2003 and losing 9-0 to Kansas City in a game that was called early due to weather. The Packers are 20-19 all time in exhibition games under Coach Mike McCarthy. The Colts are 2-2 in this game, last playing in it in 2008 and beating Washington 30-16. Indy is 5-11 in exhibition games under Coach Chuck Pagano. The favoured result for the first scoring play on Sunday is a Green Bay or Indianapolis touchdown at +225. That the team scoring first wins the game is -172.
Hall of Fame Game Prediction
The Colts’ Pagano has already gone on record saying that all of his starters will play on Sunday. McCarthy hasn’t said that. So I’d go with Indy and under that total.