Here are three clear advantages the Colts have over Minnesota ahead of Week 2 battle.
The notion that training camp buzz means nothing until a team proves it on the field in the regular season was validated in Week 1, as there were a handful of shocking upsets. The Indianapolis Colts unfortunately fell under this category, as they were humbled to the tune of a 27-20 defeat at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Indy was heavily favored heading into the matchup, and it goes without saying the team squandered a great opportunity to start the new season off on the right foot. However, head coach Frank Reich’s side will need to have a short memory, as their schedule will only stiffen moving forward.
Speaking of which, a date with Minnesota awaits in Week 2, and you’d better believe the Vikings will be hungry to avenge their loss to Green Bay, in which they surrendered a whopping 43 points to Aaron Rodgers and Co.
Aaron Rodgers looked like his vintage self while dominating the Vikings on Sunday. Unfortunately, so did Philip Rivers in the fourth quarter of his Colts debut.@rodger breaks down the winners and losers of NFL Week 1: https://t.co/2YORcLGFII
— The Ringer (@ringer) September 14, 2020
Amazingly enough, the Colts are somehow favored by a field goal despite being vastly outperformed by Minnesota on Sunday. That might have something to do with the fact that Indy will be at home with approximately 2,500 fans in attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium.
However, we would assert that Indianapolis holds some distinct advantages over the Vikings. For those Colts fans that are in need of a confidence boost after the team’s indefensible loss, well, let’s hope that this does the trick.
3. Quarterback
For the most part, Philip Rivers performed well in his Colts debut.
We get it: Philip Rivers turned back the clock for all of the wrong reasons against Jacksonville and thew a back-breaking interception in crunch time that ultimately cost Indianapolis a chance at winning the game. However, if we had to choose between him and Kirk Cousins, who has just one playoff win across his nine-year career, we’d ride with Rivers all day, every day.
This is virtually a must-win game for both teams, and the Vikings quarterback has an undeniable knack for faltering on the big stage. Cousins obviously won’t have the national spotlight on him in Week 2, as Vikings-Colts will be a 1 p.m. ET kickoff, but there’s hardly any evidence to suggest he boasts a clutch gene in must-wins like this. Sorry, but a few good throws against the choke-happy Saints in the playoffs last season doesn’t move the needle for us.
The same cannot be said for Rivers, who ranks 16th with 33 career game-winning drives in NFL history. Outside of his two interceptions, the eight-time Pro Bowler had a surgical performance under center in Week 1. He’ll certainly have to clean up his act a bit, but we wouldn’t think twice in proclaiming that the Colts have the quarterback advantage over Minnesota.