Gambling sites for NFL favor the Jags over Indy when the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Indianapolis Colts play on Sunday in NFL action at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Jags had a good preseason. They went 3-0 in exhibition games to reach the regular season with a little forward momentum.
The Colts also had a pretty strong preseason. They had a 2-1 record. The best online sportsbooks opened the Jaguars opened as a 2.5-point road faves. The line has moved as much as 2 points in their favor in the lead-up to this weekend.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts Odds By BetOnline
| Team | SP/RL | TOTAL | ML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaguars | -5 ( -110 ) | 45 ( -110 ) | -220 |  |
| Colts | +5 ( -110 ) | 45 ( -110 ) | +180 | |
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Betting Jacksonville Jaguars
Last year, Jacksonville at last played like a lot of people expected them to play with Trevor Lawrence as a starting QB. The Jags won their division with a middling 9-8 record. However, they got their stuff together in the second half of the season and went 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS after their bye week to display their potential and get the fans excited for this season.
The cherry on top was witnessing them rally back from a 27-0 deficit to upset the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card game of the playoffs at home before they lost to the eventual Super Bowl winners the Kansas City Chiefs on the road the following week. All those teachable moments should have them ready for a better start in 2023.
On Defense, Jacksonville has to improve in order for them to win consecutive division titles this season. The team achieved that in the home stretch of the regular season on their way to winning the AFC South division.
They outscored their last three opponents by a margin of 70-22. But that strong defense did not appear in the postseason. The Jags were outscored 57-51. That included a 27-20 loss at Kansas City where the team nonetheless covered the gambling sites for NFL point spread as 9.5-point underdogs.
Betting Indianapolis Colts
The outlook for Anthony Richardson is not all that promising if we consider his inexperience and tendency to turn the ball over. He will be the absolute key to the victory for Indianapolis in spite of everything else, if only because the team can certainly win should he perform well enough.
That will involve reducing TOs, running and passing the ball effectively, and being a leader both in and out of the field. There are of course good reasons that the Colts had so high an opinion of Richardson to pick him where they did, and he can surely prove them right here.
There is only one way Indianapolis can go this season, and that way is up. The Colts have hit rock bottom as a franchise with a new rookie QB, a new head coach, and lacking star running back Jonathan Taylor on the gridiron for a minimum of the first four games of the season.
Taylor is currently on the PUP list with a surgically repaired ankle after a widely publicized holdout and a trade request because of the lack of a new deal extension. Having said that, Richardson is getting ready to lead an undermanned Indy offensive attack that nevertheless features top receivers in Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce. The question will, will he be able to get the ball to those receivers if he is pressured when one of his major flaws is precisely his inaccuracy?
The home team (i.e., the Colts in this case) has won each of the past eleven games between these two football teams. The Colts have not covered the gambling sites for NFL point spread in each of their past 8 season-opening games.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts Pick
We are probably going to stick with the Colts here. It was only the preseason, but Indianapolis is fresh off a pretty good showing against Philadelphia. The Colts gained 393 total yards in that game with 27 first downs.
Indianapolis went a measly 5-of-12 on third-down tries, but they had only 5 penalties and one TO in a pretty well-balanced outing. That’s not to say that we are expecting Jacksonville to just lie down and take it.
The Jags have a share of young skilled players on the roster and they seem poised to take a step forward in the 2023 season. We like this game to remain pretty close all the way through, with the Colts mustering a late cover at home. It ought to be a fun game to watch.
