When the 7-4 Indianapolis Colts host the 5-6 Tennessee Titans today in Lucas Oil Stadium, both teams will be playing for a role in the AFC South race. While the Colts are essentially looking to solidify their first division title since 2010, the Titans will be looking to cut Indy’s lead in the division to one game rather than go up by three. The Titans added some late-season intrigue last Sunday against the Raiders, but the intrigue will be even higher if they can take down Andrew Luck and the Colts today once their NFL game kicks off at 1pm EST / 10am PST on CBS. You can also watch Titans vs Colts online free using one of several different methods.
Indianapolis obviously has the better record, and they’ve certainly got the quarterback with more living-room name recognition. But second-year QB Andrew Luck has played inconsistently in recent weeks, and where Luck goes, so go the Colts. Of course, not having wide receiver Reggie Wayne is also weighing on the Colts. Last week Luck went just 20 of 39, didn’t hit a single receiver for more than 38 yards, and led an offense that converted one-third of its third- and fourth-down attempts. Compare that to the season as a whole, where Luck has performed much better (226-386 for 2,593 yards and 15 TDs), and you can see why Colts owner Jim Irsay this week went on a Twitter rant about Indianapolis’ inconsistency.
The Tennessee Titans have battled their own quarterback issues this season, but it’s been due to injury rather than late-season inconsistency. Starting QB Jake Locker has been injured for three weeks, and he’s been ruled out for today’s game against the Colts and in fact for the rest of the season. In his place, the Titans have been relying on the 31-year-old arm of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. As the Titans starting QB, Fitzpatrick has performed very well taking Locker’s place, having notched passer ratings of 111.2, 111.6 and 109.2, but he’s spent his career dealing with hot and cold streaks, which has left Titans fans wondering whether Fitzpatrick really is “all that” or is just riding a hot streak that’ll soon come to a crashing halt.
With Locker and Fitzpatrick at the helm, the Titans have managed the league’s 21st-ranked passing game and 17th-ranked offense. Not bad, and surely reason to watch Titans vs Colts online free, but those figures are still lower than the Colt’s 18th-ranked passing attack and 14th-ranked overall offense. Tennessee does have the edge on the defensive side of the ball, though, where the Titans hold a distinct advantage over the Colts with the NFL’s 11th-ranked defense compared to the Colts’ 22nd-rated D. After an injury last week to star safety Michael Griffin, the Titans today run the risk today of missing some coverage and giving Colts QB Andrew Luck some space to play, but Tennessee will start George Wilson in his place, who’s ironically covered for Griffin in the past due to injury (in St. Louis).
No doubt the Colts’ Luck will be looking to get back on track today against the Titans as well. So far in Luck’s career, he has not lost back-to-back games, so history in technically on his side following last week’s loss to Arizona. But Luck has had multiple targets from which to choose during that time, and his options seem to be ever reducing. In addition to Reggie Wayne being gone, tight end Dwayne Allen is out, and the Colts’ offensive line has been sucker punched with an injury to guard Donald Thomas. With reduced protection, fewer receiving options and running game that’s still in need of new Colts running back Trent Richardson showing signs of life, a Colts win today against the Tennessee Titans may be harder than it looks on paper.
You can watch Titans vs Colts online free on DirecTV’s website if you have the NFL Sunday Ticket with MAX Package. The package requires a subscription, but anyone who has one can watch the live streaming version free of any game, including today’s 1:00 EST / 10:00 PST NFL game between the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts in Lucas Oil Stadium.
