The Monday night football TV schedule picks up on ESPN for Week 9 as the Indianapolis Colts and NY Giants play at MetLife Stadium and the matchup starts at 8:30 pm ET and is streaming online from the WatchESPN website as Andrew Luck and Eli Manning face off in a battle of teams looking to bounce back from tough losses in their last game.
Andrew Luck and the Colts come into the game after a tough matchup with the Steelers and now they have the Giants on the road. The Colts gave up over 50 points in that game, so the Giants likely will score 20 because football logic always works out like that. The Giants have offensive weapons, but they really need to get those players going better and they come into the matchup after a loss two weeks ago before the bye week to the Cowboys.
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The Colts have plenty of offensive weapons and for fantasy owners, the best names to start on Monday include Ahmad Bradshaw and TY Hilton. Allen is also a strong option along with Reggie Wayne if he is healthy, but Bradshaw and Hilton will be the main targets for Andrew Luck. Hilton has been one of the most productive receivers for the team, while Bradshaw has emerged as a better starter option over Trent Richardson.
Last week Bradshaw did not have a great game on the ground, but that was more about the game and the way it developed for the Colts. The team was down quick and they had to abandon the run, but Bradshaw has shown that it doesn't hurt him or fantasy owners too much when that happens. Bradshaw has become a very reliable receiver for Andrew Luck this season and he scored on the ground and with a reception against the Bengals before the game against the Steelers. Bradshaw had 52 yards on 10 carries in that game and now he is a major factor for this matchup against the Giants.
Bradshaw comes into the game after putting up seven catches for 52 yards against the Steelers and he has been a great PPR option for fantasy owners. Bradshaw is going up against his old team and he will have some extra motivation this week after putting up six rushes for 35 yards and a TD and now he could have a big game for the Colts. This season Bradshaw already has 31 catches for 264 yards and six touchdowns and he could be a major threat out of the backfield on Monday night.
Richardson has not been as productive as Bradshaw, but ESPN.com reports that Bradshaw has been making Richardson a better runner. This season he has 358 yards on the ground and is averaging 3.5 yards per carry and that puts him on pace to pass his disappointing numbers from last season. The Colts hope that Richardson can be the back he was as a rookie, as he rushed for 950 yards and had over 1200 total yards from scrimmage that season.