Written by :
Published on :
The league's top top, the Detroit Lions, take on Indianapolis Sunday in what should be a thriller.
The Colts may be sitting around the .500 mark, but they've gone 7-2 in their last nine games Against The Spread.
Not that the Lions are not covering games. In addition to winning eight straight, they've covered the spread in seven of those.
Most books featured a line of Detroit -7.5 for this game.
Anthony Richardson looked like a different quarterback when he returned to the Indianapolis Colts' starting lineup last week.
He consistently connected with open receivers. He appeared to be in command and he ran with authority.
Now, last year's No. 4 overall draft pick wants to show doubters the best game of his pro career was no fluke with an encore performance he hopes will change his long-term image.
“The main thing is just being consistent, just trusting my guys each and every play, trusting the play call each and every play, and then just trusting the preparation,” Richardson said. "It's just putting in the work throughout the week and letting it show out on the field on Sundays.”
The Lions (9-1) are off to their best start since 1934, own the NFC's best record, have a league-high eight-game winning streak and the league's highest-scoring team has topped the 40-point mark in half of those eight wins.
All of it would seem to put the Colts (5-6) under pressure to score points by the dozens. But the unflappable Richardson dismisses such a notion.
“If you see it like that, there’s definitely an edge of you trying to push and do a little bit more,” Richardson said “But I think that’s a negative, honestly. You’re trying to play up to their standards.”
Colts @ Lions
Opening Line - Depending on the book, we've seen this one open anywhere from Detroit -7 to -8.
Line Trend - The line has trended 8 to 7.5.
Sagarin – Sagarin gives us a number of 11.1, indicating a significant underlay here. Remarkably, that hasn't always been good for the favorite in the 7/7.5/8 range.
Action Trend – 75% to 85% of the action was on Detroit.
Comparables
- Patriots +8.5 to +7.5 Bengals (Bengals 10.99 Underlay) - Road dog covers.
- Houston +8.5 to +7 Indianapolis (road dog Houston covers with a tie) Indianapolis 11.04 - Underlay of 2.5 to 4 - Road dog covers.
- Carolina +8 to +7 Cincinnati (home favorite Cincinnati covers and wins by a lot) Cincinnati 10.34 Underlay 2.5 to 3.5 - Home favorite covers.
|
|
