After a convincing win in Week 1, the Washington Redskins will look to move to 2-0 this week when they host the Indianapolis Colts. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 EST on Sunday, September 16, at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Fans in local markets can watch the game on CBS.
The Redskins enter this game as 5.5-point favorites. That line has increased slightly after Washington opened at -5. The over/under is set at 46.5 points. Click here to see a full list of Week 2 betting odds.
Things looked promising for the Colts in Andrew Luck’s first game back after missing the 2017 season. He was far from perfect, but he certainly didn’t look like someone who hadn’t played a game in over a year. However, after taking a 23-10 lead over the Bengals midway through the 3rd quarter, things fell apart. Indianapolis conceded the final 24 points of the game, including a fumble return for a touchdown in the final minute to lose to the Bengals 34-23.
Meanwhile, the Redskins headed out west and walked away with a dominating 24-6 win over the Cardinals. Alex Smith definitely looked like an upgrade over Kirk Cousins in Week 1, and the Washington defense wasn’t too bad either. The Redskins out-gained Arizona by over 200 yards and more than doubled the Cardinals in first-downs. They now come home with a chance to move to 2-0 on the season.
Even in Week 2, both of these teams should have plenty of urgency heading into this game. The Redskins play the Packers, Saints, and Panthers in the next three weeks, so they can’t afford to stumble at home in a game in which they’re favored. As for the Colts, this week begins a stretch of four road games in the next five weeks, including road games against the Eagles and Patriots during that span. In short, this is one of their more winnable games early in the season and they have to take advantage, even on the road.
I agree that the Redskins are probably the better team, but I’m a little uncomfortable swallowing the points here. If the Colts hadn’t given up a defensive touchdown late in last week’s game, they would have lost by four points, which would have been a better representation of that game. I think Luck will be able to do enough to keep Indy within striking distance and help them to at least beat the spread.
It’s hard not to question the level of competition the Redskins faced last week in Arizona. The Cardinals looked absolutely abysmal, and the spread for this week’s game may have bee overblown a little as a result. I don’t think Washington will have such an easy game this week.
Obviously, Luck isn’t fully back to where he was before he had shoulder problems. But he played better than most expected him to last week. As he gets more time to play and practice, he should round back into form, so I expect him to be a little better against the Redskins than he was last week.
Considering the Colts didn’t have much of a run game against the Bengals, Luck played quite well. He completed 39 of 53 passes for over 300 yards. The Indianapolis offense struggled a little in the 2nd half, but it was a promising performance overall. Luck did a nice job of using tight ends Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron in addition to the wide receiver duo of T.Y. Hilton and Ryan Grant. That’s a nice set of receivers that will surely present more of a challenge than what the Washington defense saw last week.
Another reason for the Colts to have optimism is the expected return of left tackle Anthony Castonzo and running back Marlon Mack after both missed Week 1 due to injury. Castonzo should provide a big lift to an offensive line that was surprisingly adequate last week. If Mack can help the Colts generate more of a running game, it’ll help take some of the pressure of Luck and make him more dangerous taking chances down the field.
We should also keep in mind that Washington’s offense had one great quarter last week but wasn’t necessarily consistent. It’s also worth noting that Smith typically keeps things safe. Most of his passes last week went to either running backs or tight ends. Only eight of his 21 completions went to wide receivers. Obviously, that kind of offense can be effective, but it also makes things a little easier on the opposing defense. Even if the Redskins have another good game running the ball, they don’t have the kind of explosive offense that makes it easy to cover spreads that are greater than a touchdown.
I still see the Redskins winning this game, but it won’t be by a comfortable margin. Luck is surely capable of keeping pace with anything Smith and the Washington offense are able to do. The Colts also have the better playmakers in this game, even if the Redskins have the edge on defense. Luck and the Indy offense will do enough to keep this game close, so I’ll lean toward the underdog and the points in this game.