The Bengals suffered a bitter 26-21 defeat in Jacksonville last Sunday night when they gave up 23 unanswered points and failed to cover the number to fall a game under .500 in the exhibition season. The Colts also enter looking to even up their record at 2-2 after dropping an ugly 33-23 decision to the Eagles and lost a number of key starters to injury in the process. It’s safe to say Indy has some work to do before the games really start to count.
The Colts and Bengals will kick off their Week 4 tilt on Thursday, September 1, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. ET from Paul Brown Stadium.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
With the Colts already suffering a myriad of injuries along the offensive line, the loss of guard Jack Mewhort only makes things worse. With that, you can bet your bottom dollar Andrew Luck doesn’t see the field in this one after he was beaten like a piñata due to poor line play last season. Even if Andy Dalton doesn’t take a single snap, look for the Bengals to be the decided favorite of the linemakers.
Quarterback Rotation
Luck played just two series in last week’s home loss to the Eagles. While he wasn’t able to lead the starting offense to any points, don’t look for Chuck Pagano to put his prized possession in this game with the former No. 1 draft pick having his season cut short in 2015 due to a number of injuries.
Instead, look for backups Stephen Morris and Scott Tolzien to get all the reps behind a makeshift line looking for answers and consistency due to mass injuries up front.
Andy Dalton has seen limited action through the Bengals first three preseason games. He didn’t even go through the first half of the dress rehearsal against the Jags, so it’s likely he doesn’t see the field on Thursday night. It makes sense since losing him at the tail end of last season is one of the reasons Cincy once again flamed out in the Wild Card round.
A.J. McCarron has however gotten a ton of play and performed admirably throwing for 327 combined yards and one touchdown in all three games. He’s firmly the backup, so the only thing left to decide is the No. 3. That will likely be figured out in this one with Keith Wenning and Joe Licata looking to impress throughout their time on the field.
Coaching History
Winning has never been the “MO” of Pagano since taking over head coaching duties in Indianapolis. He uses the four games to evaluate what he’s got on both sides of the ball and never concerns himself with the final score. That’s extremely evident with his overall preseason record coming in at 6-13 and 1-3 in Week 4 of the preseason.
Marvin Lewis sits two games over .500 as a head coach in the preseason. Cincy has gone at least 2-2 or 3-1 in four straight seasons. They had won and covered three straight at home until the Vikings beat them in Week 1. Lewis has made it a point to win these final games of the preseason so as to head into the regular season on an uptick – he’s 10-3 lifetime.
Free ATS Pick
This will likely be one of the more lopsided point spreads of the Week 4 slate - especially if McCarron is slated to get some play in the first half. Indianapolis likely won’t be interested in winning this game whatsoever, as it has much bigger fish to fry due to the multitude of injuries the team has suffered throughout the preseason.
Numerous starting positions could be up for grabs if the walking wounded isn’t able to get back into the starting lineup for Week 1. With that the case, Pagano and his staff will once again resort to determining what they have and deciding who has the goods to line up with the starting units next week.
While Cincy has some injury concerns of its own – A.J. Green and Adam Jones – it’s defensive depth is greater than Indy’s so it should be able to come out on top in Week 4 like it has each of the last three times it opposed the Colts in exhibitions.
NFL Odds: Bengals 20, Colts 10
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