***SWAMP SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER - PART 1: IND @ BAL***

***INDIANAPOLIS COLTS @ BALTIMORE RAVENS***

Bitter under the radar rivalry between these two organizations that stems from way back when the Colts left the city of Baltimore to relocate in Indianapolis. Needless to say, Balty hates Indy. The Colts have had an extremely disappointing season and it started day 1 when QB Andrew Luck's health remained a mystery. The Team frantically traded for Patriots third string QB Jacoby Brissett. It wasn't long until we learned that Luck would indeed be out for the season, and in my opinion Brissett has grown greatly from week to week considering the situation he was put in, on a team that is weak across the board. They have come to play every game, and a lot of the time, put themselves in position to be in the game towards the end to pull out a possible W, or at least cover the number for us cappers. That being said, today they go into rainy Baltimore to add another notch of bad weather games on their belts as they come off their fifth straight loss. Two weeks ago they played an overtime game in Buffalo that ended in gut-wrenching fashion and last week they hosted the lowly Denver Broncos on TNF, where they led at halftime 10-7, before losing the game 25-13. Backup Denver QB Brock Osweiler came in for an injured Trevor Siemian and played the best game he's had since the early days of his career. It stunned the Colts and the Broncos trotted onto victory as they pulled away in the second half. Needless to say, the Colts morale has to be at an all time low at this point. However, today they find themselves yet again in the National spotlight and I believe they will get up one last time for today's game to avoid another public embarrassment, and against the Ravens, I think they will be able to.

Baltimore is a potential playoff team. They are fighting for one of those two remaining AFC Wild Card spots and need to win their remaining two games. Today against the Colts, and next week when they host a rival with nothing to lose in the Cincinnati Bengals. So while at first glance you'd probably think these last two games should be easy W's for the Black Birds, think again. These two games are very dangerous for Baltimore, more so the last one since Cincy has the talent to really play spoiler. That doesn't mean the Colts won't and can't play spoiler here today themselves. They'd probably love nothing more than to get a HUGE upset on Prime Time for the Holidays. It would provide something for them to feel good about as the terrible season winds down, something to hang their hats on before headed into the offseason. Do I believe they can do it? Not sure, but I do believe they will play tough enough and are more than capable to keep this one within the number here. I mentioned the rain earlier, and it looks like it isn't going to let up much so that gives us a nice and wet, sloppy type of football game to feast our eyes on at our Holiday party late this afternoon. What comes with that type of game? Running the football, and lots of it. This is something that plays into the Colts favor as they have one of the best mudder type RBs of all time in veteran Frank Gore. As good as the Ravens defense is, I believe the Colts will relentlessly pound the rock with Gore and a side of Rookie speedster Marlon Mack all game long. With nothing to lose, I then would expect Brissett to take some shots deep with TY Hilton as they lure the defense in. I also like Brissett to utilize his mobility to avoid the Raven's mean pass rush and pick up chunks of yardage on 3rd and shorts to consistently move the ball forward and get into scoring range. Veteran Kicker Adam Vinatieri needs something like 3 FGs each during these last two games to hit a major bonus of 500K in his contract for the year. Last season he was in a similar situation and ended up missing the FG he needed to get it done I believe, but don't quote me on that. In a bad weather game, I could see it being a low scoring, old-fashioned, running of the football with some good FG Kickers yawner that today's generation loves so much, heheh. The Colts defense is a banged up and average unit but they do play hard and have some guys up front that can get to the QB in Sheard and Mingo. The Ravens offense is nothing to be scared of either and I expect them to play the same type of game with RBs Alex Collins and Danny Woodhead. I'll wrap things up by just reiterating my thought process of expecting the Colts to come motivated to play one last time on Prime Time and end on a positive note, while the Ravens will play smart and the long game where Coach Harbaugh will be just looking to get the W nice and easily, and most importantly avoid possible injuries. That being said, I don't see them running up the score here, just handling their business to get the W, and we are getting a ton of points here. I got to take 'em. COLTS+13.5