NFL - Colts v Ravens

16 January 2010

Preview By Tipster Jumbo (New Zealand)

The Colts and Ravens face off here in what should be a good game.

The Colts enter this Post Season somewhat under a cloud, there was the taking the starters off the field in the match against the Jets and therefore running their chance to create history and the fact that they rested their starters for the other final game of the season and so they ended up losing their last two matches before today’s match, However with Peyton Manning the Colts have the perfect bounce back man on their roster and his leadership is excellent, He can mount drives to win games and he can mount then to take games away, his vision on the field for me is unmatched and his presence is enough alone to drive his side towards the finish line, He for me is perhaps the best Leader for a side that American Sport has to offer and he has promised the Colts faithful that they will turn it back on come the post season and that’s what I like about him, He actually gives a shit about the Colts supporters, he takes it seriously and knows how much is thought of his skills and I expect him to come out here and lead the Colts great yet again.

The Ravens got by the Patriots last week but if they are looking to get that same result this week they are in for s hock, last week the Ravens pretty much did what they pleased against a Pat’s side who and lets be honest were just plain dreadful, You could be the biggest Ravens fan in the world and be happy with the effort and result but you can’t just thank your team for the effort, you have to thank the Patriots for not showing up, Brady looked hurt and Moss looked like he really didn’t give a fuck and so the effort was just not there , but the Colts are a different beast altogether and the ravens will know that and know that well, the Ravens pass defence has been brilliant over the last month and was again last week against the Patriots so I do think that they can make the going tough for this Colts side but unless they start throwing the ball the game will get further and further away from them as Manning will pick them apart as the game go’s on, The Ravens defence needs to be at it’s best to stop Manning and although I think to some extent that they can, I don’t think that they can fully stop him and unless they can score freely themselves then this match will be very hard for them to win.

The Colts are 8-2 in their last 10 against the Ravens and have won 7 straight against them, The Colts are also 6-3-1 ATS in those last 10 meetings as well as 6-0 ATS in their last 6 against them, Only 4 of those most recent 10 meetings have been played in Colts land with the Colts winning all 4 matches and being 2-2 ATS in those games, they are also 2-0 ATS in their last 2 at Home against the Ravens which finished in scorelines of 31-3 and 20-10.

I’m going to limit the stats somewhat here as to not write to much…

The Colts at hoe on seasons averages score 23ppg while allowing 19ppg, The Ravens season average score on the road this season is 20ppg while they allow on seasons averages 20ppg, It should also be noted that the Colts best scoring quarters are the first and second while the Ravens worst defensive efforts have been in the 1st and 2nd Quarters also, Rushing wise and the Colts are one of the worst in the league and are ranked 30,31 and 31 for rushing plays per game, attempts per game and yardage per carry per game, while the Ravens as we all should know rank 2nd in rushing overall rushing yards allowed and yards per carry, while the Colts home rush defence allows 113rushing yards per game with an average of 4 yards per attempt, Passing though and a lot changes here, the Colts rank 1st in passing attempts, 2nd in completions, 5th in passing yards per game and average 10yards per passing play, The Colts pass defence though is far from great and they rank badly in all facets of that part of their game, except for yards per pass attempt where they rank 2nd in the league allowing on average 9 yards per passing play completed, The Ravens being a mainly rushing team rank in the 20-30’s in the league for road passing, Attempts and yards per catch while their defence against the pass also is not that good and they rank badly in that area of their game allowing almost 250 passing yards per game with an average yardage gain per pass of 11yards which ranks them 25th, The sack tally is also interesting as the Colts are ranked No 1 allowing on average only 1 sack per game while the ravens defence ranks 10th with almost 3 sacks per match, However the Ravens allow 3 sacks per game on the game while the Colts home defence gains 3 sacks per game, so pretty even there, The Colts are also the least likely in the league for Penalty yards at home on average making only 4 errors per game to rank them first while they rank 4th in penalty yards given up, On the other side the Ravens rank 29th in road penalties and give up on average more than 75 penalty yards per contest.

What really puts me off the Ravens in this game are two things, One is that they are a running team and Flacco is making no throws which will be great for TOP but won’t help at all with scoring big numbers which is what they will have to do in this match and 2nd is that Apology that Peyton Manning gave to the Fans a couple of weeks back where he asked for the Public to forgive them for not chasing history and vowed to make it up in this match today, Manning is no Mug and he would of talked these Colts into a frenzy as such to regain that form that they had for most of the season, I also don’t see Manning throwing 5 picks like Brady did last week either.

Big game here for either side but I like the Colts to advance and do it with a bit of style, they have a lot to live up to now after being beaten and playing reserves and I think the rest and the atmosphere will suit the Colts just fine, 6 points is big but if these sides are close and Manning gets his hands on the ball late in this game for a game winning drive you can expect him to do just that, I fancy the Colts to win this game by 7-14 points and for them to send a message to the rest of the league, that they are still here and the road to the Title runs through them….Good Luck.