Colts/Titans Monday Night Football Rebuttal

My colleague, Brandon Phillips, loves the Colts to win tonight. Although the Colts have a chance to win any game with Peyton Manning, I don’t see the Colts winning the game tonight. They are certainly capable of winning, but you cannot ignore what the Titans have been able to do their first 6 games of the season. Rarely would I suggest betting against a home team on Monday night. The home team simply has a huge advantage in prime-time games. See the Patriots last week, the Browns the week before that over the Giants. Sure, the Vikings were able to escape out of New Orleans with a W, but that was a very odd game to say the least.

The Titans defensive stats alone are enough to avoid taking the Colts tonight. 1st in points per game allowed, 3rd in yards per game allowed, 8th in sacks, 3rd in interceptions, 9th in forced fumbles. Then you have the Colts 29th ranked running defense against the 3rd ranked rushing attack. I expect a monster day from Chris Johnson. He simply hasn’t been able to be stopped.

The bottom line: the Titans have a solid defense at home with a strong rushing attack against a team that’s struggled against the run.

You can’t compare the Titans to the Ravens to argue the Colts should win this game. First, the Colts were at home that game. Second, Joe Flacco was careless with the ball and threw 3 INTs. Third, the Ravens secondary was hammered with injuries and Manning exposed their backup CBs all game long.

In all honesty, I would not bet on tonight’s game. I’m going to say the Titans win in a close one, but as we all know, what the stats indicate and what occurs on the field rarely match up.