Getty Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck
The Indianapolis Colts grabbed control early in their opening-round matchup against the Houston Texans. And in the end, the wild card action kicked off Saturday with an impressive win for the Colts on the road against their AFC South rival. Andrew Luck and company clearly looked like the better team in this game, and we knew early on the outlook of who the Colts would play in the divisional round.
While we’re only through the very early stages of the playoffs, one thing we now know is that the Colts’ next opponent is already set. Due to the NFL playoff reseeding, Indianapolis faces the Kansas City Chiefs in a road game at Arrowhead. Not surprisingly, the matchup is already picking up a decent amount of attention, so let’s take a deeper dive into it.
For starters, the betting line of the Colts vs. Chiefs divisional-round matchup has been released.
Colts vs. Chiefs Divisional Round Playoff Betting Line
As Odds Shark revealed, Bet Online has put out a betting line on the potential second-round matchup. While they feature the Chiefs as early favorites over the Colts, it’s not by nearly as wide of a margin as you may think.
Opening divisional round odds (@betonline_ag):
Colts +4
Chiefs -4
O/U 53.5
This matchup pits Luck against second-year phenom quarterback in Patrick Mahomes with the potential to see some major points. That explains the projected total set at 53.5 points right out of the gate. Although the opening round was a (mini) upset pulled by Indy over the Texans, knocking off the Chiefs in Arrowhead, where they’re 7-1, would be another level of upset.
Even with the Colts opening as underdogs to the top seed in the conference, it’s hard to argue that there’s a hotter team in the league currently. To wrap up the regular season, Indianapolis won nine of 10 games, including four-straight to finish out the year and make the playoffs.
Colts vs. Chiefs Preview
There’s a lot to take in from the matchup between these two teams in the playoffs, especially considering the offensive firepower on both sides. Through the regular season, the Chiefs ranked as the No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 35.3 points per game while the Colts were No. 5 with 27.1 points.
The Luck vs. Mahomes matchup will be a talking point, for obvious reasons. The Chiefs quarterback is having an MVP-caliber season, while Luck is a top candidate for comeback player of the year. Mahomes threw for 5,097 yards while completing 66 percent of his passes with an incredible 50 touchdowns through the air. For good measure, he also tacked on 272 rushing yards and two additional scores.
As for Luck, he racked up 4,593 passing yards and 39 touchdowns with a 67.3 completion percentage. Considering this was his first season back from a full year away from the game, the fact he nearly set a personal career-best in touchdowns is tough to ignore. Luck’s completion percentage and quarterback rating (98.7) both mark career bests.
As TV Insider revealed, the Colts vs. Chiefs matchup is set for Saturday, January 12 at 4:30 p.m. EST on NBC.
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