Tale of two seasons finally meets in the first Wild Card matchup of the weekend. The Bills were heavy favorites to win their division this season, and Josh Allen was expected to make a jump in production with the addition of key wide receivers like Stefon Diggs and drafting Gabriel Davis.
The Colts had an up and down season, and then when it mattered the most, they took care of business and waited for the outcome of some other games. With the Dolphins’ loss to the Bills and the Colts beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts barely squeaked into the playoffs as the seven seed.
Indianapolis Colts Betting Preview: Build a RICO case against the Bills Mafia
The Colts won four of their last six games to sneak into the seven seed of the 2020 playoffs. Head Coach Frank Reich might have finally set free their star rookie running back Jonathan Taylor right at the right time. Taylor finished the season on a four-game streak of at least 74 yards and a touchdown in every game, even finishing the season with a 253 yard 2 touchdown outing against the Jacksonville Jaguars. While also being third in the whole league in rushing yards with 1,169 and 12 total touchdowns.
Quarterback Phillip Rivers had himself a nice season as he threw for 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions at the age of 39. He started every game for the Colts this season as he cements his legacy as one of the “Ironmen” of football. The Bills will be his toughest opponent yet by far, as the last time they played at all was back in 2018 where the Colts won 37-5 when Rivers was still the quarterback of the San Diego Chargers.
Buffalo Bills Betting Preview: 6,772 is better than 0
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has stated that he will allow exactly 6,772 socially distant fans into the game on Saturday. The Bills are coming off a season in which they played in front of no fans at all, so even though 6,700 seems like a small number, it’ll be a breath of fresh air for the players to hear a little crowd interaction. Josh Allen had an MVP caliber season totaling 45 total touchdowns and ten interceptions.
The addition of star wideout Stefon Diggs proved to be the primary piece to help Allen get over the hump of being just an average quarterback. Diggs ended the season leading the league in receptions with 127 while also having 1,535 yards to go along with eight touchdowns. Diggs also helped open the run game for rookie Zach Moss and second-year running back Devin Singletary as they combined for 1,135 yards and six touchdowns. It also looks like the Bills will be fully healthy going into this wildcard matchup as no regular-season starter will miss this game due to injury.
Indianapolis at Buffalo Odds & Lines
Fanduel Sportsbook has the Odds opened at Bills -6.5, moneyline Bills -295 with an over-under totaling 51.5.
There were only two games all season where the Bills were underdogs, and they failed to cover the spread either time. In games in which they are favored, they are 14-0 when covering the spread. The Colts, on the other hand, are 10-6 covering the spread this season; all of the spreads they covered were less than 9.5, which is the case for this game.
Free Betting pick
The play here is Buffalo Bills, spread at -6.5, which is -114, and the under of 51.5, which is -110 for odds that add up to +253.