Broncos and Colts Looking to Get Offenses on Track on Thursday Night Football
By Charles Jay
Week 5 kicks off with Thursday Night Football. Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts is generally considered to be one of the elite backs in the NFL. Javonte Williams of the Denver Broncos is looked upon as one of the up-and-coming stars at the position.
This could have been a duel between tremendous tailbacks. But it is not going to be. Instead, it’s going to be a game where both teams might need to find other ways to win. And it’s an interesting handicapping challenge for BetOnline customers.
It;s an 8:20 PM ET kickoff at Mile High, and it is part of the Amazon Prime Video package for the NFL.
Taylor wanted to play, but he was ruled out by the Colts’ medical staff with an ankle sprain. Williams suffered a knee injury, and he won’t be available to the Broncos for the remainder of the season.
Indianapolis is 1-2-1 after a 24-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans last weekend. Denver was disappointed with a 32-23 defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders, dropping their record to 2-2.
Both teams are led by veteran quarterbacks with a lot of Pro Bowls between them. But one of those quarterbacks may be a bit past his prime, and that could be one of the differences in the game.
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Thursday Night Football Betting — Here are the numbers….
In the odds posted at BetOnline on this game, the Broncos are favored:
Denver Broncos -3 (-120)
Indianapolis Colts +3 (+100)
Over 42 Points -110
Under 42 Points -110
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Thursday Night Football Betting — So what will the Colts & Broncos do at running back?
Almost nobody got any carries on the Colts aside from Taylor. Nyheim Hines has the highest rushing total of any other back, with 11 yards. Even Matt Ryan has more rushing yards than that.
So it might be a safe assumption that the Colts will allow Hines to do what he does best, which is catch the ball (17 catches, 111 yards, second-most targets on the team), and that will amount to Frank Reich programming more short passes to running backs that will suffice as his ground game. If Hines can catch at least five passes, we get paid at +117 at Prop Builder. If he catches six, it’s +270. So we’ll explore that.
And since we don’t expect a lot of handoffs, we like our chances going “over” the total of 34.5 attempts for Ryan (-114 on the price).
The Broncos are in better shape in the backfield, on balance. Melvin Gordon has been forming a 1-2 punch with Williams, although he has just 3.7 yards per carry and four fumbles, one of which was taken back all the way by Las Vegas last week.
Denver also signed Latavius Murray, who just scored a touchdown for New Orleans against Minnesota last Sunday. That game was in London, so we assume he’s done a lot of traveling in the last few days, so whether he’ll be a lot of use to them is questionable.
Thursday Night Football Betting — Turnovers are a key
That’s quite a cliche, isn’t it? They always are. But when we look at the quarterbacks, it’s plain to see which one has taken better care of the ball.
Ryan, who has not necessarily been the huge upgrade over Carson Wentz that the Colts had hoped for, has thrown five interceptions thus far, and he has fumbled the ball nine times. Denver’s Russell Wilson, by contrast, has one interception in 131 attempts and hasn’t fumbled.
Thursday Night Football Betting — Red zone could matter
The Broncos are 17th in the NFL in yards gained per drive. But they are 26th in points scored per drive. So they are obviously having some problems pushing the ball over the goal line. indeed, they have converted only 30% of their red zone opportunities into touchdowns. By contrast, the Colts have had 46.2% success with TD’s in the red zone.
Thursday Night Football Betting — Our conclusion
Indianapolis (3.1 ypc allowed) has been better at slowing down the run than has Denver. But maybe that won’t matter all that much here. In a game where major weapons are missing, the Colts are suffering more of an impact. As for picking up the slack on that, Wilson gets the ball down the field better, takes care of the ball better and avoids the rush better. If he is sacked, it’s because he allowed that as an alternative to making a bad throw.
Yes, those are advantages for these Broncos, and that’s why we’d side with them. We also like the UNDER if you’re looking to do a parlay.
Good luck, and don’t forget that BetOnline has Prop Builder available, so that you have literally hundreds of angles to wager on for each NFL game. If parlays are your thing, Odds Boosters gives you some specials with fantastic payouts. And deposits are easy, since you can make them with a credit card or just about any kind of cryptocurrency!
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