The Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts are playing live on the AFC Wild Card schedule on Sunday and the game for the NFL playoffs round is from Lucas Oil Stadium at 1:05 pm ET on CBS as Andrew Luck and Andy Dalton battle at the Drum and this is huge for the Bengals, as Cincy has not won a playoff game in over a decade.
Luck comes in after having a great season, but he struggled a bit down the stretch and now Indy is hoping that he can take care of business at home. Luck has won in the playoffs before while Dalton has not and now both quarterbacks are looking to add to their resumes. The Colts won the AFC South division, while the Bengals were one of the wild card teams and now they matchup in Indy. The Colts ranked first in the league in passing yards per game this season, but they lost Ahmad Bradshaw to an injury and that will make it tough in the playoffs.
The defense has been very up and down for the Colts this season and they come in ranked in the middle of the pack overall this year. The team finished with a win against the Titans and they went 11-5 on the season and saw Luck pass for over 4700 yards. The team went 6-0 in the division and they went 9-3 against the AFC and they actually have already beaten the Bengals at home this season.
The Colts opened with two losses before winning five straight games and they won 27-0 against the Bengals at home in that stretch. The team lost two of the next three against the Steelers and Patriots, giving up over 90 points in those two games, but down the stretch they won five of their final six games. The team locked up the division early and now they are getting ready to play their first meaningful game in a few weeks. Luck had 40 touchdowns and the Bengals will have to find a way to stop the air attack for Indy.
The Bengals are 10-5-1 this season and they come in after ranking sixth in the league in rushing and 21st overall in passing yards per game. The Bengals have been to the playoffs over the past few years, but they have not been able to win and this could be the game that gets the elephant off their backs. This was the worst loss of the season for the Bengals, the matchup against the Colts and now they can at least try to get some revenge in the game.
TY Hilton had a fantastic season along with Luck for the Colts and he comes in with 82 catches for 1345 yards and seven scores. AJ Green will be out for this game and that is a huge loss for the Bengals and puts more pressure on Dalton as well as Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard at RB. Dalton had over 330 passing yards this season, but he only had 19 touchdowns and he will need to have a solid game for the Bengals to win.
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