NFL Preseason Betting Free Picks: San Francisco at Indianapolis

Added on Aug 14, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Week one of the NFL preseason wraps up on Sunday with two games, and we’ll take a look at the early start contest between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts. Same old same old with Indy heading into the 2010 season, as Peyton Manning will lead one of the NFL’s most productive offenses and underrated defenses. Out west, coach Mike Singletary will try to continue his work reviving the winning tradition of one of the league’s most storied franchises.

San Francisco 49ers at Indianapolis Colts
August 15, 10:00 AM Pacific

There may not be a team in the league that cares less about the preseason than the Indianapolis Colts. Indy is on an 18-25 ATS run as a preseason favorite, but even more telling is their performance in the past few years—Colts are 4-9 straight up and ATS in the last three exhibition campaigns. Really, to understand just how little Indianapolis cares about the preseason all you need to do is look at the pointspread for this game where the Niners are a 3 or 3’ point road favorite!

Obviously Manning will play little, if at all, which means that Curtis Painter will be under center for most of the game. Painter didn’t look particularly sharp when he played late in the season (in those games that Indy ‘phoned in’ before the playoffs) and like Jim Sorgi before him he’s a monumental drop off from Peyton Manning.

On the other side of the ball, you can expect Mike Singletary to play to win here. He’s trying to revive the winning tradition of the Niners franchise and isn’t about to pass up an opportunity to put a victory in the books. San Fran will also have the better quarterback rotation—starter Alex Smith should get some reps early, but David Carr will probably see most of the action. Veteran Carr is an exceptionally capable backup and will want to solidify his #2 status over Nate Davis, who has looked good in camp. Former Ball State standout Davis will also see some action and will be trying to take Carr’s gig.

As a final note, with San Francisco facing five 1 PM Eastern start games in the regular season Mike Singletary is approaching the schedule for this game to prepare his team for the travel and early starts. While we’re not excited about the price on the game, ultimately this is a matchup between a team that wants to win and a team that doesn’t care with the Niners offering the additional edge of a better QB rotation.

Bet San Francisco -3 over Indianapolis