The struggling Indianapolis Colts make their way to Cincinnati to face the resurgent Bengals. The Colts are coming off a hard loss at home to the Chiefs in which they had a solid 17 point lead before giving it away and eventually losing the game in the fourth quarter. Curtis Painter has shown signs of life for the Colts as he seems to be a lot more comfortable at quarterback for the Colts. In this game it will be a little more difficult as Joseph Addai is ruled out with a hamstring injury. Injury is nothing new to the Colts as they have many key players that are now out for the season, thus the winless start so far. Indianapolis has shown they are not willing to give it up easy but it has been difficult to hold leads late in the game and they are slowly but surely generating offense. For Cincinnati it has been a season of surprise first with the ‘trade me or I retire’ statement made by Carson Palmer in the beginning of the season to the emergence of the dynamic duo of Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. With Dalton running the show the Bengals and their fans have a reason to be excited; also with the receiving ability of Green and the hard nosed running of Cedric Benson it looks to be a good year in Cincinnati. As they say it looks like it’s a blowout on paper but that is why they play the game.

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Key Matchups:

Cincinnati running game vs. Colts front seven

The Colts have lost many impact players on defense, many on the front line which should make it a good day for the Bengals running game. Look for the Bengals to expose the Colts defensive line with a ground and pound.

Mathis and Freeney vs. Cincinnati Offensive line

If the Colts are able to put up a lead, look for the ends of the Colts to really pin their ears back and put the pressure on the rookie quarterback. No doubt this will be a challenge for the Bengals offensive line.

Keys to the game:

For Indianapolis establishing a solid offensive plan:

Indy has really struggled trying to get the offense going with signs being shown last week against the Chiefs, the Colts look to establish a plan early in this game.

For the Bengals run, run and run to set up Dalton to Green:

Cedric Benson will be asked to carry a heavy load and as the Colts load the box look for Dalton to find Green on a regular basis on Sunday. If Benson has his way it will be along day for the Colts.

Prediction:

Colts 17, Bengals 27

By Sam Adams
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer