COLTS’ DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN RAVENS

The Indianapolis Colts are a team known for their high octane offense led by NFL MVP Peyton Manning.  On Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, it was the Colts’ defense that paced the team to victory.  The Indy defense limited the Ravens to a Billy Cundiff field goal en route to a 20-3 victory.  The Colts will now host the surprising New York Jets in the AFC Championship game next Sunday.

NFL pointspread players who backed Indy as -6’ point home favorites cashed tickets on the Colts’ victory.  The Colts had been a disappointing 3-5 ATS at home during the regular season, though they excelled in the role of a favorite with a 9-5 ATS mark.  The 23 combined points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 44.  The Colts had gone OVER in five of their last six games to conclude the regular season.

After the game, Peyton Manning said that the bye week had been crucial to the Colts’ success:

“There's no question how the guys used the off week. We kind of called it preparation week. I thought we had good preparation coming into this game, thought we came out sharp and kind of set the tempo from the get-go."

Head coach Jim Caldwell gave the bulk of the credit for the victory to his defense:

"Our defense did a tremendous job. Anytime you hold that offense the way they run the ball, and Ray Rice, under 100 yards, our defense did indeed play hard and well, tackled well, and they were opportunistic. It was a heck of a performance."

Ravens’ running back Ray Rice was limited to 67 yards rushing and gave his thoughts after the game:

"The better team won today. You shouldn't be afraid to say that."

Head coach John Harbaugh concurred:

We didn't play well enough to win this game against this team on this day. They played defense the way they always do, they just played it well."

Indianapolis will now face the surprise team of the NFL playoffs, the New York Jets.  The Jets will enter with the league’s top ranked rushing attack and overall defense.  The Colts are a -7’ home favorite with the total set at 39’.  The winner will advance to Superbowl 44 in Miami, Florida on February 7.