Week 7 Sunday Night Football Preview: Colts vs. 49ers

The Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers were both hoping for better starts to the season than they have had. Both teams are looking up at the first place teams in their respective divisions, which makes this game an important one for both sides. San Francisco enters this matchup as a four point favorite and will look to get their first home win of the season against Indianapolis.

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts have won two of their last three games, beating the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans during that stretch to get to 2-4 on the season. But it was the performance during their loss in that stretch that turned some heads, as they took the Baltimore Ravens to overtime and looked better than they had all season despite the loss. This week, the Colts will look to continue to build up a passing game that has been better in recent weeks.

What has worked especially well for the Colts is the deep ball from Carson Wentz. Wentz found Michael Pittman several times down the field against the Ravens and followed up on that with some accurate deep passing against the Texans. If Wentz can continue to deal the ball down the field successfully, the Colts are going to be very competitive in this contest on the road against the Niners.

San Francisco 49ers

After winning the first two games of their season over the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers have fallen on hard times. The Niners have lost three straight games, dropping division contests to the Seahawks and Cardinals in addition to a loss to the Green Bay Packers. San Francisco is coming off of its bye week and will look to end their month-long winless drought.

This week, it looks like Jimmy Garoppolo will be good to go at the quarterback position once again after Trey Lance had to step in for the injured Garoppolo previously. The question for the 49ers is whether or not the return of Garoppolo will help them in a meaningful way. Both 49ers' quarterbacks had been struggling prior to the bye week, and anyone who plays that position this week will need to raise their level of play.

Keys to the Game

For the Colts, the key to this game and most games is whether or not Carson Wentz can avoid committing turnovers. Wentz has been playing well lately, but that can all disappear in a hurry if he starts piling up interceptions and fumbles again. If Wentz takes care of the ball and gives himself a chance to make plays down the field by not giving the ball to his opponent, the Colts could come away with a victory.

Quarterback play is also the major key for the 49ers as they enter this Sunday Night Football matchup. With multiple running backs out with injuries for the Niners, the ability of Garoppolo or Lance to deliver the ball consistently and stand up to pressure in the pocket is essential to the success of the team right now.