Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals Line

The Indianapolis Colts will be looking for their first win of the season when they visit the 3-2 Cincinnati Bengals Sunday.

Odds makers predict the Colts won’t find the win column this week. Indy is currently listed as a seven-point underdog with the total set at 39.5.

The Colts blew an excellent opportunity to notch their first victory of the season in Week 5. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead against the Kansas City Chiefs but couldn’t hold on. They eventually fell 28-24.

Quarterback Curtis Painter played well, completing 15 of 27 passes for 277 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Five of those completions, included both touchdown strikes, went to Pierre Garcon, who led the team with 125 receiving yards.

Indy only managed 78 yards on the ground as starting running back Joseph Addai went down with a hamstring injury. He is currently listed as questionable for this week’s contest.

The Bengals pulled within one win of matching their 2010 win total with a 30-20 victory at Jacksonville last week.

Rookie signal caller Andy Dalton completed 21 of 33 pass attempts for 179 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Fellow rookie A.J. Green led the receiving corps with five catches for 90 yards and a touchdown.

Cedric Benson, who ranks fifth in the AFC with 401 yards on the ground, led the way with 53 rushing yards.

Benson could find a lot of running room this week against an Indy stop unit that currently ranks 31st in the NFL with 145.2 rushing yards allowed per game.

The Colts gave up 194 rushing yards to the Chiefs last Sunday.

Cincinnati currently ranks No. 1 in the league in total defense with 279.6 yards allowed per contest. That could spell bad news for a Colts’ offense that currently ranks 30th with only 287.0 yards per game.

It will likely take a big time performance from Painter for the Colts to pull off the upset. The former Purdue standout has looked good in his first two starts, throwing for 558 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

He has had the luxury of working with a receiving corps that is among the best in the league.  Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark are Pro Bowlers and Garcon is currently tied for third in the AFC with 420 receiving yards.

The Colts have won their last seven games versus the Bengals with the most recent being a 23-17 home win on Nov. 14, 2010.

These two last met in Cincinnati on Nov. 20, 2005 with Indy earning a 45-37 victory.

The Colts have covered the spread in five of the last seven meetings. It is also worth noting that Cincinnati is 0-9 against the number in its last nine home games when listed as a favorite.

The Bengals have covered the spread in four of five games this season.

As far as the total is concerned, the over just might be the play. The Colts have combined with their foes to finish over the number in each of their last seven games when the total has been between 35.5 and 42 points.

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