Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts Monday Night Football Betting Preview

On Monday Night Football to close out Week 12, the Indianapolis Colts host the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC rivalry game. Both of these teams are no strangers to being at the top of the AFC in recent history, but both teams have struggled mightily in the 2022 campaign.

Here, the team that puts together the more convincing offensive performance will have the inside track to a much-needed win to close out Week 12.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers sit in last place in the AFC North, standing at 3-7 going into this game on the road. Pittsburgh has just one win on the road this year, going 1-4 away from home, as they will aim to double their road win total with a victory here.

The question for Pittsburgh here is whether they can do enough scoring to come away with a victory that would keep them within three games of the AFC North lead.

For the Steelers to get such a win, they will need to focus on stopping the run first and foremost. The Colts have a passing game that is anything but consistently dangerous, as the focal point of their offense is their running game. 

Slowing that down and forcing Matt Ryan to beat them will be the game plan for Pittsburgh on the defensive side of the ball.

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are coming off of a loss last week to the Philadelphia Eagles, dropping them to 4-6-1 and to 1-1 under Jeff Saturday.

That said, the Colts played with some heart in that game and managed to keep things close throughout against the team with the best record in the NFL. 

Here, the Colts will aim to put together another solid performance under Saturday, in his first Monday night game as an NFL head coach.

For the Colts, the question is whether they can get enough out of Matt Ryan to give themselves another chance to win a game. Ryan has completed over 70% of his passes in both games since returning to the field after being benched for Sam Ehlinger.

But, he has averaged just 217.5 yards per game in those two contests, and the Colts will need to present a more explosive offense to get better results.

Keys & Odds To The Game

The Colts will enter this game as -2.5 point favorites at home.

The number one key to this game for the Steelers is going to be getting their running game going with Najee Harris.

Harris has just 550 yards this season, ranking 27th in the league in rushing this year. He has hit 90 or more yards in each of his last two outings for the Steelers, and another relatively big game will put the Steelers in the mix here.

For the Colts, the key to this game is going to be figuring out ways to run the ball without being overly predictable. Mixing in some play-action on first and second down, using misdirection at the line, and running to the outside on early downs will help create lanes in the middle later in the game.

A commitment to thinking outside of the box will be a huge factor for the Colts as they look to win this one at home as a slight favorite.

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