Colts to Cover vs. Jets One of the Best NFL Wild Card Predictions This Weekend

Backing the Indianapolis Colts to cover the spread versus the New York Jets in the sportsbook is one of the best NFL wild card predictions a pigskin handicapper can make for the weekend.

68% of football handicappers are backing the Colts to cover the less than 3-point spread in their game versus NYJ on Saturday. Although Jets’ coach Rex Ryan firmly believes that his fellas will win the Super Bowl, so far neither the odds makers nor gamblers are backing up Ryan’s assessment.

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Can Indy ride their late regular season winning wave to a victory over the New York Jets and a cover in the sportsbook on January 8th?

New York Jets (11-5) at Indianapolis Colts (10-6)

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

When: Jan. 8th, 2011 at 8:05 pm EST

TV: NBC

NFL Betting Line

New York Jets +2 ½ -110 O 44 ½ -110

Indianapolis Colts -2 ½ -110 U 44 ½ -110

Check out some trends in this game.

• The New York Jets are 5 and 1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog of ½ to 3 points.
• The New York Jets are 4 and 0 ATS in their last 4 games after scoring more than 30 points in their previous game.
• The Indianapolis Colts are 1 and 4 ATS in their last 5 games at home.
• The Home team is 4 and 1 in the last 5 meetings between these two teams.

According to the trends, NYJ should be one of the better NFL wild card predictions to cover the spread this weekend. After all, they do have the supposedly better defense and are coming off of a stunning 38 to 7 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

I should probably tell my editors, Sandeep or Reagen, to strike that word stunning from the paragraph above. I mean, how can anybody use the word stunning in regards to a victory over the injury-plagued Buffalo Bills?

Before beating the Bills, the vaunted Jets’ D had given up 38 points to the Chicago Bears, a team that most football fans believe has a distraught offensive line.

The Jets could only sack Bears’ QB Jay Cutler 2 times in that game for 13 yards even though the Bears gave up 6 sacks to Green Bay for 51 yards only a week later. The Jets must get pressure on QB Peyton Manning in order to have success on January 8th.

There are two reasons and both are equally important in me deciding to make the Colts to cover one of the best NFL wild card predictions of the weekend. The first reason is that the Jets likely aren’t going to be able to get to Manning often in this game.

Manning was sacked only 16 times during the regular season. That’s not a huge number and more often than not, Peyton read the blitz beautifully and delivered strikes to his wide receivers. How else to explain Manning throwing for 4,700 yards and 33 touchdowns during the regular season with both TE Dallas Clark and WR Austin Collie out of action for most of the season?

The other reason to love the Colts to cover in this game is the fact that Indy’s run defense has become amazingly good. The Colts haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in the past 3 games. In fact, they’ve shut down 3 very good rushing teams in a row the way that the Jets usually shut down a team’s rushing attack.

The Colts’ rush D easily makes them one of the best NFL wild card predictions to cover the spread on Saturday. Indy held Jacksonville and their terrific running back Maurice Jones-Drew to only 68 rushing yards as a team.

The Colts stopped both of Oakland’s awesome running backs, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, by holding the Raiders to 80 total rushing yards. Finally, in Week 17, the Indianapolis Colts held Tennessee and arguably the most talented running back in the the NFL, Chris Johnson, to a measly 51 yards on 24 carries on the ground.

Because of the Jets’ inability to pressure Peyton Manning and the Colts’ ability to shut down the Jets’ rushing game, this is a no-brainer to me. The Indianapolis Colts should cover the 2 ½ points in the NFL sportsbook.

NFL Betting Pick: Indianapolis Colts -2 ½ -110

Check out more NFL wild card predictions in the sportsbook!