NFL Opening Day Lines: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts

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The Indianapolis Colts play host to divisional foes, the Jacksonville Jaguars, in their home opener on Sunday, September 13th at 1:00 P.M (EDT). The Colts are currently favored by 6.5 and the over/under is set at 45. Jacksonville would love to get a win, having lost their season opener the past two seasons. Indianapolis has fared somewhat better going 3-1 in their past four opening games.

Both playing in the AFC South, these teams are no strangers to one another. While the Colts haven’t completely dominated the series the past several seasons, they have won 7 of the last 10 meetings between them. Jacksonville, just one year removed from an 11-5 season, stumbled out to a bad start last year and ended up 5-11. Head coach Jack Del Rio will have to get his team back to the basics to find ways to win again.

The Colts on the other hand have been the model of consistency, posting 12 or more wins in the past six seasons. You have to go back all the way to the 2001 season to find the last time they failed to have a winning record. Their main concern heading into this season is making a smooth transition from having long time head coach Tony Dungy on the sidelines, who retired after last season, to having first year head coach Jim Caldwell at the helm. This shouldn’t be too difficult as Caldwell has been with the team for the last seven years and understands what it takes to win.

With a quarterback like Peyton Manning, the Colts always have the ability to put a lot of points on the board. This coupled with the fact that Jacksonville ended last season giving up an average of 23 points per game and was ranked 24th over all against the pass, makes me believe the over (45) is looking good in this one. While they are starting to show their age a bit, the Colts are still one of the most talented teams in the AFC, while right now Jacksonville is a team with many more questions than answers.

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