Indianapolis (0-1) at Green Bay (0-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, Fox
BetMGM NFL Odds: Colts by 3½
Series record: Colts lead 23-21-1
Against the spread: Indianapolis 1-0; Green Bay 0-1
Last meeting: Colts won 34-31 at Indianapolis in overtime on Nov. 22, 2020.
Last week: Colts lost 29-27 at home to Houston Texans; Packers lost 34-29 to Philadelphia Eagles at Sao Paulo
Colts offense: overall (16), rush (19), pass (14-T), scoring (11-T)
Colts defense: overall (31), rush (32), pass (22), scoring (25-T)
Packers offense: overall (3), rush (7-T), pass (7), scoring (7-T)
Packers defense: overall (29), rush (23), pass (27), scoring (29-T)
Turnover differential: Colts minus-1, Packers plus-2
QB Anthony Richardson. Injuries limited him to only four games before undergoing season-ending surgery last October. He had an encouraging start to his second season by throwing for 212 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while also rushing six times for 56 yards and a score. Accuracy remains an issue. He went 9 of 19 through the air against Houston.
QB Malik Willis. The 2022 third-round pick from Liberty will start Sunday's game if Jordan Love is unable to play. Love hasn't practiced all week after injuring his left medial collateral ligament on the third-to-last play of the Packers’ loss to the Eagles. The Packers released an injury report Friday listing Love as questionable. Willis has made three career starts — all in his rookie year — and didn’t throw for as many as 100 yards in any of them.
Colts running game vs. Packers run defense: Run defense has been one of Green Bay’s major weaknesses for years, and the struggles continued in Jeff Hafley’s debut as defensive coordinator. Saquon Barkley rushed for 109 yards on 24 carries to lead Philadelphia’s 144-yard rushing attack. Facing a mobile quarterback in Jalen Hurts and an elite running back in Barkley at least prepared the Packers for what they’ll face Sunday in trying to contain Richardson and Jonathan Taylor.
Love, Packers RB MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring) and Packers WR Jayden Reed (shin/calf) are all questionable. Lloyd didn't play against the Eagles. ... Colts S Julian Blackmon (shoulder) has been ruled out for Sunday's game. Colts DT DeForest Buckner (back), WR Josh Downs (ankle) and DE Kwity Paye (hamstring) are questionable. Downs hasn’t played since getting hurt in early August. Colts K Matt Gay is expected to play Sunday after missing the Texans game while recovering from a hernia.
Indianapolis has won its past three matchups with Green Bay, though each of them has been decided by five or fewer points. ... The winning team has scored 30 or more points in each of the past five games. … The Packers and Colts were division rivals who played each other twice every season from 1953-1966. That stopped in 1967, when the NFL was realigned to get ready for the NFL-AFL merger. ... The Packers are 12-9 against the Colts at home. … The franchises have a combined total of 58 Pro Football Hall of Famers. That list includes Ted Hendricks, who played for both teams.
Indianapolis is 0-10-1 in its past 11 season openers but has only started 0-2 once over the past six years, in 2021. ... The Colts ran 43 plays and only had the ball for 20 minutes last week, allowing Houston to have a two-to-one advantage in possession time. ... Richardson completed three throws of more than 50 yards in Week 1, including two for TDs, but only completed six of his other 16 throws for 41 yards with one interception in the loss to Houston. Richardson also ran for a TD, his fifth in five career games. ... Colts WR Alec Pierce caught three passes for a career-high 125 yards in Week 1, including a 60-yard TD catch. ... Former Wisconsin star Jonathan Taylor has scored in a league-best six consecutive games and will try to extend that streak in his first pro game at Lambeau Field. He needs 17 yards rushing to pass Tom Matte (4,646 yards) for sixth on the Colts career list. ... Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. had 10 games with eight or more receptions in 2023. He had four last week. ... Colts safeties Nick Cross and Julian Blackmon both rank among the league’s top five in tackles after getting 14 and 13 respectively against the Texans. ... Indianapolis sacked 2023 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud four times last week. … Green Bay rushed for 163 yards against the Eagles. That was the highest single-game total the Packers have ever gained on 21 or fewer carries. … Reed had a 70-yard TD catch and a 33-yard TD run against the Eagles, making him just the fifth player since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to have a TD reception of at least 70 yards and a TD run of at least 30 yards in the same game. He also had a 38-yard TD reception nullified because of offsetting penalties. … The Packers had three takeaways against the Eagles to match the highest total by any NFL team. … The Packers scored TDs on just one of their four red zone opportunities in the Eagles game. They settled for field goals on the other three drives. Packers rookie K Brayden Narveson went 3 of 4 on field-goal attempts in his debut, with his lone miss coming from 43 yards.
Reed’s outstanding performance against the Eagles makes him seem like an obvious choice to have in your lineups if he's healthy enough to play, but it might be wise to stay away from all Packers receivers due to the uncertainty surrounding Love. Willis has been much more effective as a runner than as a passer thus far in his NFL career.
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