Cincinnati Bengals vs Indianapolis Colts: A Preview and Prediction for Sunday's Game
The Bengals are preparing for an important game on a short week with the Indianapolis Colts coming to town on Sunday.
Both teams are still in the hunt for the playoffs. Cincinnati needs to beat the 7-5 Colts if they want a realistic shot at making the postseason for a third-straight year.
Much like the Bengals, Indianapolis has faced their own share of adversity this season. That includes losing star rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson for the season due to a shoulder injury.
“There’s always going to be adversity,” Cincinnati native and Colts center Ryan Kelly told All Bengals. “There’s never a perfect season where everybody is healthy, that's just the reality of the business.”
With Gardner Minshew under center, the Colts completed a sweep over Titans last week. It was the first time they swept Tennessee since 2018.
Minshew threw for 312 yards, two touchdowns and finished with a 100.5 rating.
The Bengals are quite familiar with the reality of seeing key players get injured. They lost quarterback Joe Burrow to a season-ending wrist injury and top cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt will miss at least three more games with an ankle injury.
The Bengals are hoping to get Taylor-Britt back before the conclusion of the season. They struggled against the pass on Monday night, giving up their second highest point total of the season (31 points). Cincinnati’s defense also gave up 258 passing yards and two touchdowns.
That formula won't work against a Colts receiving corps that had two 100-yard receivers last week in Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce. Both guys also had touchdowns.
Going into Week 13, Cincinnati had two major issues and both of them stemmed from the ground. The Bengals weren’t running the ball well on offense and they were struggling to stop it on defense.
The coaching staff made clear adjustments ahead of their Monday night win over the Jaguars. Lou Anarumo and Marion Hobby worked to fix Cincinnati’s run defense after giving up 4.6 per rush to Pittsburgh in Week 12.
Cincinnati rebounded by holding the Jaguars to 2.8 yards per rush.
The Bengals' rushing attack also improved significantly. Brian Callahan, Frank Pollack and Justin Hill deserve credit after the offensive finished with 156 rushing yards on 31 attempts.
Joe Mixon more than doubled his touches from the week before and Chase Brown saw his fair share of carries, finishing with 61 yards on nine attempts.
The adjustments and improvements are visible, but can be consistent on the ground? They need to have an efficient run game to put Jake Browning in a position to succeed. That will be necessary if they're going to beat the Colts on Sunday.
Browning went 32-of-37 for 354 passing yards, one touchdown and a 115.5 quarterback rating. He was named AFC Player of the Week.
He was clearly taking advice from Burrow, who helped the team from the sidelines with his arm in a sling.
Ja'Marr Chase led the passing attack, finishing with 11 receptions (12 targets) for 149 yards and one touchdown.
"We believe in him to keep up the execution," Ja'Marr Chase said on Thursday. "Keep up the consistency. That's the biggest thing that we've got to keep going. Like I said at the beginning of the season, consistency is going to keep us going and get us to where we want to go."
Cincinnati is facing a higher ranked passing defense this week. The Colts only allow 222.1 passing yards per game, which is 17th in the NFL.
While Shane Steichen’s team started the year 3-4 they have proven to be a gritty, blue collar style of team who will do whatever it takes to win. They've won four-straight games.
Cincinnati is just now catching its breath after suffering a three-game losing streak and losing their franchise quarterback in the process. Beating the Colts would improve the Bengals' playoff chances tremendously.
If Cincinnati’s offense can be as dynamic and multidimensional as they were on Monday night, they’ll have a good shot at beating Indianapolis on Sunday.
Prediction: The Colts opened as a road favorite, but I believe Cincinnati has a slight edge at home.
Final Score: Bengals 24, Colts 21
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