August 25, 2011

Green Bay Packers at Indianapolis Colts Pick – NFL Preaseason Week 3

Green Bay Packers at Indianapolis Colts NFL Odds provided by VietBet

Point Spread: Packers -9

Total Line: 38.5

The Green Bay Packers take on the Indianapolis Colts this Friday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in a Week 3 NFL preseason matchups of two teams that hope to be playing here again in early February of next year. Kick-off is set for 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

With Super Bowl XLVI slated to be played in Indianapolis this season, Green Bay is hoping a return trip is in order to defend its 2010 world title. The Packers took a step in the right direction towards that goal with a 28-20 win over Arizona as a five-point home favorite last Friday night. This followed a 27-17 loss to Cleveland as a 2.5-point road underdog in their first preseason game. The total went ‘over’ in both these games.

It has been a slow but steady start for the defending champions as Aaron Rodgers has seen little action so far but has been sharp as ever, completing 75 percent of his attempts for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Running backs Ryan Grant and James Starks have only carried the ball a combined 10 times, but are averaging over five yards an attempt.

There is trouble brewing in Indy after two dreadful performances so far. The Colts lost their preseason opener to St. Louis 33-10 as seven-point road underdogs and were beaten 16-3 last Friday night by Washington as five-point home underdogs. The total went ‘over’ the 34-point line in Game 1 but stayed ‘under’ the 35-point line against the Redskins.

Peyton Manning’s recovery from offseason neck surgery has kept the future ‘Hall of Famer’ sidelined this preseason, but the fear now is that his recovery may linger into the start of the regular season. There probably is not a team in the NFL that is more dependent on the play of one man as Indianapolis, so the future health of this team is directly tied to the health of Manning’s neck.

The Colts are completely punchless without Manning’s presence in the lineup, so this should be a walk in the park for the Packers. The free NFL pick for Friday night is Green Bay minus the nine points in a lopsided rout.

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Dave Schwab

DJ is a freelance writer that concentrates on his true passion in life; the world of sports. He produces a number of articles each week for BangTheBook.com as well as a select group of other websites that specialize in providing the most up-to-date information for the sports gaming industry. His goal is to write insightful articles on a wide variety of sporting topics that can provide an edge to today's sophisticated online player.