The Jacksonville Jaguars will host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon in Week 13. Here is a game preview, the betting odds and a final score pick.
We’re entering Week 13 of the 2017 NFL season. This is considered the home stretch. One game of note going on in Sunday afternoon between AFC South rivals will feature the Indianapolis Colts (3-8) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-4).
Kickoff from EverBank Field in Jacksonville will be at 1:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 3. CBS will have the early afternoon telecast with Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon in the booth to call this second annual meeting between these two teams. Jacksonville shut out the Colts in Indianapolis earlier this season.
Indianapolis enters play at a rough 3-8. The Colts are almost out of the AFC playoff picture entirely. This has been a lost year for the Indianapolis football franchise and everybody knows it.
The Colts need to massively overhaul their roster and probably get a new coaching staff in place in addition to getting franchise quarterback Andrew Luck back for next season. A pleasant surprise for this team has been the solid play out of Luck’s backup in Jacoby Brissett. The kid can play.
Jacksonville enters play at 7-4 on the year and would be the No. 5 seed if the season ended after Week 12. The Jaguars are having their best season in a decade and look to be in line as a certain playoff team, either as a wild card or possibly the AFC South champion.
The AFC South race will likely come down to Week 17 when the Jaguars have to play the division-leading Tennessee Titans in Nashville. That could get flexed into primetime for all we know. Jacksonville has an elite defense, but is continuously held back by rancid quarterback play out of struggling starter Blake Bortles.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Jacksonville -9.5
Moneylines: Jacksonville -425, Indianapolis +355
Over/Under: 40.5
According to OddsShark, the Jaguars will be laying 9.5 points at home to the visiting Colts. The associated moneylines for this game are Jacksonville -425 and Indianapolis +355. This game’s over/under comes in at a combined 40.5 points.
Since this game will be on grass and at home for a defensive-minded Jaguars team, let’s side with the under. This game will have fewer than 40 combined points in it. Hooray! But that’s exactly how Jacksonville likes it. The Jaguars want to beat the tar out of the opposition with its formidable defense on the field.
No, this will not be another shutout for the Jaguars. If it is the case, then this will be the last game that Chuck Pagano coaches the Colts. He cannot be shutout in back-to-back games by a division rival and expect to keep his job. Pagano is already skating on thin ice.
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Expect the Jaguars to bludgeon Brissett and the Colts offense on defense. The Jaguars will find pay dirt on defense twice, once on a fumble recovery and another on a pick-six of Brissett. Interestingly, the Colts will score more points on offense than the Jaguars 14-10, but the two defensive scores will be the difference. Jacksonville wins by 10 and barely covers the 9.5-point spread.
Pick: Jaguars 24, Colts 14