Originally Posted by
suicidekings
Indy is ranked 30th in rushing yards per game, and despite the QB change, they would still have to be ranked in the bottom third of the league in passing (if we're being generous, we can call them an average passing team). So they can't run the ball at all, and will be forced to generate offense with their passing game. I like Curtis Painter actually, and think that we've seen him progress over the last few weeks, but he'll never be more than a midrange QB option. Now look at the Bengals defense. 7th in rushing defense, and 3rd in pass defense. We can expect the Colts to have very little success on the ground, and they're really going to be fighting an uphill battle in establishing their passing game. This game is actually analogous to last week's Titans @ Steelers game. The Titans have no ground game, generating over 80% of their total yards from passing. When they ran into Pittsburgh's #1 ranked pass defense they were completely outmatched, unable to pass or to run the ball. A one dimensional team being forced to play to their opponent's strength is a really bad situation for a team to be in. Cincinnati isn't an offensive powerhouse by any means, but Indy's inability to move the ball is going to result in a lot of extra possessions for the Bengals, probably starting in good field position in most cases. The Colts are really bad in overall defense (31st in rush defense, 18th in pass defense). If I'm Cincinnati's OC, I call Cedric Benson's number early and often in the first half, being fairly confident that the Colts will give ground. If the Bengals play solid defense, as they should, Indy is going to have a REALLY hard time scoring on them, and the Bengals are going to get a lot of opportunities to put points on the board. Finally, the Colts desperately need a win, and last week against the Chiefs was the best chance they've had all season. They started well, but fell apart against a team that's every bit as bad as they are, losing at home. If they couldn't muster a solid effort for 60 minutes at home against what should have been a solid opportunity against KC, I really don't see them getting it done here on the road.