Indianapolis Colts (6-7) @ Denver Broncos (8-5)
Sunday, December 15, 4:05 PM ET
The Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts are both coming off of bye weeks in Week 14, which should make for a fascinating chess match between Sean Payton and Shane Steichen.
Both of these teams are playoff hopefuls and both feature young quarterbacks.
For the Colts, Anthony Richardson was benched earlier this year for Joe Flacco, which didn’t do anything to help the Colts’ playoff chances but might have helped Richardson out substantially. Although his completion rate is still not overly high, Richardson seems to be playing with more confidence and we saw him show up in a big way against the New England Patriots late in the game right before the Colts hit their bye.
Richardson has completed exactly 50 percent of his passes or less in four of his five starts since coming back into the fold. But the way the Colts can play defense and run the ball has set Richardson up to make plays in clutch moments, which he’s done.
The question is – will the big plays be enough against a Denver defense that has been dominant for most of the season? Richardson and the Colts will be hoping the Broncos’ defense plays more like it did against the Browns than what we’ve seen for most of 2024. The Browns put up nearly 500 passing yards on Denver’s defense and had them on the ropes before Jameis Winston threw a second pick-six.
The Broncos’ defense has been dominant all year long in the pass rush department but Richardson is a tough one to bring down, only being sacked 11 times in nine games this season. Denver’s defense is going to have to make sure they don’t get over-aggressive and allow Richardson to dictate this game with his legs.
The Broncos are 4.5-point favorites and I do like them playing at home and coming off of a bye, even with the Colts also getting their bye in Week 14. The Broncos get their 9th win of the season here and we might even see their running game come alive.
Prediction: Broncos win 28-20