Behind The Lines

[The Caped Crusader]

I love reading these articles that CJ posts. Mainly to put things into perspective. It's sad to think we all think our teams are 'good' or going to do it. Hearing about the Colts from Colts insiders/fans is interesting. Perhaps even more interesting, the fact they think the Colts will give us a hard time. It's ENTIRELY possible, but on paper, I find it a bit confusing.

Here's the article.

Key part from it:

Quote: I expect this first game for the Colts to be kind of sloppy. Andrew Luck has missed a lot of time, and despite some solid play during the preseason, he will be nervous about his first real game back. The Bengals’ pass rush is no joke, and the Colts have had a couple injuries on the offensive line that have kept them from getting any real cohesion this offseason. If Anthony Castonzo is not back in action for this game, I think it will create issues for the offense.

Luck has shown a tendency to force the ball to his trusted playmakers, and while I expect Reich to scheme some easy throws for him early to build some confidence, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gives up a pick.

On defense, I expect the team to struggle a bit. They do a good job of gang tackling, but have shown already that a quality running back can really rack up the yards against them. They’ll do their best to be a bend but don’t break style of defense, but I expect that approach to yield a lot of yards for the Bengals. However, they have done quite well in terms of red zone defense, and have been able to generate some turnovers, so lots of yards won’t necessarily translate to touchdowns.

All in all, I expect this matchup to be a sloppy outing but a close one. I think the game will come down to a single score late in the game, and there is no one I’d rather have for a fourth quarter comeback than Andrew Luck.

Colts win, 28-24

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2018/9/6/17814454/bengals-vs-colts-behind-enemy-lines-indianapolis-take-a-punch-not-wilt-week-1-preview-nfl-cincinnati