The Indianapolis Colts will be looking to strengthen their tenuous hold on top spot in the AFC South with a fourth straight win when they battle the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football as 6.5-point betting underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Colts improved their straight-up record to 6-5 last weekend with a 25-12 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, covering as 3-point chalk to extend their current win streak against the spread to four games.
It was an important victory for Indianapolis, which enters Sunday night’s Colts vs. Steelers betting matchup at Heinz Field in a tie in the division standings with Houston, but holds the tiebreaker edge on the strength of their 27-20 victory over the Texans back in Week 5.
The Colts have also been racking up the victories despite the absence of quarterback Andrew Luck, who remains sidelined for at least one more week after suffering internal injuries in the club’s 27-24 win over the Denver Broncos a month ago.
Matt Hasselbeck has performed admirably in relief of Luck, with the 40-year-old throwing a pair of touchdowns in each of the last two outings. However, the Colts’ ground game has struggled, tallying just 99 total yards in those contests.
A lot is on the line in Week 13 for the Steelers, who are coming off a 39-30 loss to the Seattle Seahawks but remain in the thick of the AFC Wild Card hunt with a 6-5 SU record.
Pittsburgh has run hot and cold this season, failing to string together three SU wins all year while going a dismal 1-4 ATS in their last five games according to the OddsShark NFL Database.
Of even greater concern is the health of starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who had appeared in just six games this season due to knee and foot injuries prior to last week’s loss to the Seahawks in which he went down once again, this time with a concussion.
Big Ben received the green light to return to practice this week, and barring any setbacks is expected to play on Sunday night.
That’s good news for the Steelers, who have dominated Indianapolis historically, going 12-2 SU in their last 14 meetings, including a mammoth 51-34 home win over the Colts last season while claiming the outright win as 5-point underdogs.