<h1>Cincinnati Bengals vs. Indianapolis Colts Betting Pick Round One of the 2015 NFL Playoffs</h1>
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Indianapolis Colts ATS Pick
By: JBG
PICK AGAINST THE SPREAD: Colts -3.5 O/U 49.5
Last Games: The Colts beat the Tennessee Titans 27-10 and the Bengals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17, which cost them the AFC North title.
The betting trends head-to-head really point to CBS Sports Picks favoring the Colts in this game and those picks are right. I am surprised the odds makers only have the Colts as a 3.5-point ESPN Pick for this game, as they crushed the Bengals at home earlier this season and Cincy has some serious issues on the defensive side of the football.
The Fox Sports Pick for Bengals vs Colts in this AFC playoff game has to be Indianapolis and not only because they are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games facing Cincinnati. Well, on top of that the favorites has covered in 6 of the last 7 games between the 2 and the home teams has covered in the last 5 of 6 games.
Andrew Luck passed for 344 yards with 2 TD and was not picked off in the regular season meeting against the Bengals. Luck will be facing a Cincy pass defense that ranks 20th in the league and he had a solid game in the season finale. Indianapolis is 20-7-1 ATS in their last 28 games after accumulating more than 250 yards passing in their previous game.
Not only do the betting trends point to the Colts, but the Cinct playoff trends do as well. Would you lay money on Bengals’ QB Andy Dalton who is 0-3 in the playoffs or head coach Marvin Lewis, who is 0-5 in the playoffs? I wouldn’t think so. Oh, yeah, in the 5 losses with Lewis at the helm Cincinnati has not even covered the spread 1 time.
Overall, the Colts are 20-6-1 ATS in their last 27 home games and 14-6-1 ATS in their last 21 games overall.
The Bengals were a solid 5-3 on the road this season and the Colts are 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
One of the main reasons this game does not have the Colts favored by more may be the fact their rushing attack has struggled while Cincy RB Jeremy Hill rushed for almost 400 yards combined in his last 3 games. Hill has to be a concern for a Indy run defense that only ranks 18th against the run. However, while the Colts have not been a good running team this season they face a Bengals’ run D that ranks 20th in the league and in the regular season game they had a total of 171 rushing yards.
ATS and O/U Record
Cincinnati Bengals: 8-7-1 ATS / O/U 6-10
Indianapolis Colts: 10-5-1 ATS / O/U 9-7
Key Betting Trends
The Colts are 20-6-1 ATS in their last 27 home games, 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games following a SU win of more than 14 points, and they have an Under record of 4-0 in their last 4 games.
The Bengals are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 playoff games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. loss, and in their last 6 games on the road the total has gone Under 6 times.
Head-To-Head Betting Trends
Under is 4-0 in the last 4 games in Indianapolis
Favorite is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games
Home team is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games
Colts are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games against the Bengals.
