Monday Night Football XBOX Simulation – Indianapolis Colts vs. Miami Dolphins

Indianapolis Colts vs. Miami Dolphins 8:35 ET ESPN

Weather: 40% chance of rain with scattered T-Storms, medium winds out of the east at 13 mph, high of 87.

Week 2 of the NFL sports betting season closes out with an AFC non-divisional confrontation between the Indianapolis Colts (1-0, 0-1 ATS) and Miami Dolphins (0-1, 0-1 ATS) from LandShark Stadium; kick-off is slated for 8:35 ET and can be seen on ESPN.

The Colts looked terribly unimpressive in their 14-12 non-covering win against the Jaguars last Sunday afternoon; the freaking stadium shadows might have played a role with it though. QB Peyton Manning threw for 301 yards and a TD, but the ground game was limited to just 71 yards overall on 31 carries (2.3 YPC). The Colts were very lucky to win the game outright.

Miami was even worse in its ’09 debut as the offense turned the ball over four times and gained a total of 259 yards against a retooled Falcons defense. HC Tony Sparano was noticeably upset throughout the entirety of the second half, so expect to see a much different Fins squad take the field Monday night.

The month of September has been particularly good for ‘under’ bettors for both teams. Miami is 10-2 to the ‘under’ in its L/12 Week 2 games, while Indy’s L/14 games in September have yielded ten ‘unders’ against just four ‘overs’. Both teams played in ‘under’ contests last week. The underdog is 8-1 ATS the L/9 meetings.

1 st Quarter:

The Dolphins started the game off in great shape at their own 44 after KR/WR Devone Bess returned the opening kick all the way out to Miami’s 44-yard line. After a 2-yard gain by RB Ronnie Brown on 1 st down, each of QB Chad Pennington’s passes fell incomplete and the Fins were forced to punt.

QB Peyton Manning and the Colts offense set up shop at their own 8-yard line. RB Joseph Addai rattled off a solid 12-yard gain on 1 st down, and then Manning hit him out of the backfield for 8-yards to set up 2 nd and short. Addai moved the chains with another big gainer to get Indy out to their own 36. The Dolphins got some major pressure on Manning over the next three plays forcing two incompletions and a dropped ball; punting time.

Neither the Colts nor Dolphins got on the board throughout the remainder of the quarter, but Miami had something cooking heading into the 2 nd quarter staring at a 2 nd and goal at Indy’s 2-yard line.

INDIANAPOLIS 0 MIAMI 0

2 nd QUARTER

Instead of going “Wildcat” or straight up running the ball on 2 nd down, the Fins decided to go play action – DE Dwight Freeney was having none of it though as Pennington ran right into him and was dropped for a 5-yard loss. Pennington was forced to throw the ball away on 3 rd down and the Fins had to settle for a 24-yard K Dan Carpenter FG attempt. The snap was bad and the holder had a tough time getting the pigskin into position ultimately forcing Carpenter to kick it off the side of his foot; he missed.

Indy took over on its own 14-yard line. Manning immediately connected with WR Reggie Wayne for a 28-yard gain and then hit TE Dallas Clark for a 12-yard gainer to get the Colts out to their own 46-yard line. After an Addai rush for 3-yards, Manning was sacked by blitzing LB Joey Porter and then his 3 rd down pass was deflected and fell incomplete. P Pat McAfee pinned the Dolphins inside their own 2-yard line.

RB Brown moved the chains on a pair of rushes, and then after Pennington’s next two passes fell incomplete, he hit TE Anthony Fasano for a huge 12-yard gain to keep the drive alive. RB Ricky Williams gained 8-yards on his first carry of the game, but the drive stalled after that. Miami regained possession at Indy’s 47-yard line when PR Pierre Garcon got stripped of the ball. The Dolphins rode the back of RB Brown down to Indy’s 34-yard line, and then Pennington connected with WR Ted Ginn Jr. for a 17-yard gain to move the chains. Pennington’s next two passes fell incomplete and he was sacked on 3 rd down forcing the Fins to settle for another FG attempt. This time, Carpenter nailed it!

INDIANAPOLIS 0 MIAMI 3

3 rd Quarter

The Colts failed to do anything with the opening possession in the 3 rd quarter, but Miami made the most of theirs. Pennington and company got to midfield, and then on 3 rd and 6 from their own 47, Pennington hit WR Greg Camarillo for a big 26-yard gainer. After an 8-yard gain by RB Brown out of the “Wildcat”, Pennington regrouped after getting sacked and hit a wide open Ginn Jr. in the end zone from 24-yards out to propel the Fins to a 10-0 lead.

The Colts started their second possession of the 3 rd quarter at their own 33-yard line. Manning looked pissed at the line already, but it was about to get worse. On the very next play, his pass was deflected at the line and intercepted by SS Yeremiah Bell and returned all the way back to the Colts 14-yard line.

After a pair of small gainers on the ground, Pennington hit WR Camarillo in the end zone for a 7-yard scoring strike – Manning immediately got off the sideline and started getting in his offenses faces.

He never got a chance to get his hands on the ball though as Pierre Garcon returned the kick 92-yards for a score to get the TD back that he allowed the Fins to secure after fumbling a punt.

The Colts had no time at all to feel happy about what just occurred as Miami went right down the field with a myriad of looks from the “Wildcat” and closed the quarter out at Indy’s 17-yard line.

INDIANAPOLIS 7 MIAMI 17

4 TH QUARTER

Indy’s “D” stepped up and held the Dolphins to another FG attempt. The holder had to set up in the dirt of the field, and with all the rain throughout the evening, it was more like a puddle of mud. Once again, Carpenter shanked it and the Colts were still alive.

Manning wasted no time; he hit TE Clark for a 17-yarder and then found a wide open Austin Collie for 15-yards. Once they got to midfield however, they failed to move the chains on 3 rd down forcing them to go for it on fourth. Manning looked cool as a cucumber in the pocket as he waited for WR Wayne to get open. Once he did, he fired it at him for an 8-yard reception to move the chains. After Addai picked up 9-yards on 1 st down, Manning hit Wayne again for 29-yards to set the Colts up 1 st and goal at Miami’s 5-yard line. Addai powered his way into the EZ and the Colts were now down just a FG with 3:32 left in regulation.

With all three of their timeouts and the two-minute warning, HC Jim Caldwell elected to kick it deep. Miami did a decent job of milking the clock by barraging the Colts “D” with doses of Brown and Williams, but Manning and company eventually took back possession of the ball at their own 23 with 1:22 to go.

The drive started off well with MIA playing a short prevent “D”. He hit TE Clark for 16-yards and then WR Wayne for 13 more, but it was all downhill after that. He got sacked on 1 st down and then proceeded to throw three straight incomplete passes. Miami took over at its own 48 and took a knee.

FINAL SCORE: INDIANAPOLIS 14 MIAMI 17

This game simulation calls for a Miami outright victory and for the game to go ‘Under’ the posted ‘Total’. You can get MIAMI (+3) +105 and the UNDER 42 –110 at BetOnline.com right now!!!

 

1

2

3

4

FINAL

INDIANAPOLIS

0

0

7

7

14

MIAMI

0

3

14

0

17

QB Peyton Manning: 16/31 188 yards 0 TD 1 INT

QB Chad Pennington: 16/27 200 yards 2 TD 1 INT

RB Joseph Addai: 11 carries for 60 yards 1 TD Long of 12

RB Ronnie Brown: 21 carries for 90 yards 0 TD Long of 9

WR Reggie Wayne: 7 receptions for 99 yards 0 TD Long of 29

WR Ted Ginn Jr.: 5 receptions for 81 yards 0 TD Long of 24

 

INDY

MIA

TOTAL OFFENSE

278

321

RUSHING YARDS

90

121

PASSING YARDS

188

200

1 ST DOWNS

9

14

TOTAL YARDS

463

443

TURNOVERS

1

0

3 RD DOWN CONV

4/9 44%

11/18 61%

PENALTIES

5-43

4-35

TIME OF POSSESSION

22:35

37:25