What bettors need to know: Indianapolis at Arizona

Indianapolis Colts at Arizona Cardinals (-2.5, 48.5)

Line movement

Believe it or not, the Colts actually opened as 2.5-point favorites at the Hilton in Las Vegas.

Most books opened with the Cardinals laying a single point, but the line has since been bet up to -2.5.

The total hasn’t moved much, just a half-point off of the opener of 48.

At the time of writing, it appears bettors are split down the middle in terms of the side while the money continues to pour in on the over.

Short week

The Colts are at a slight disadvantage with this being a short week off of their win over the Dolphins Monday.

Of course, that wasn’t an issue last year as they defeated the Patriots following a Monday night appearance and beat the Jaguars on a Thursday night game.

The Colts defense was on the field for 45 minutes Monday, so we’ll see if that becomes an issue Sunday night.

Cards on track

Arizona certainly didn’t look like the defending NFC Champion in its season-opening loss to San Francisco, but the Cardinals rebounded nicely in Jacksonville last Sunday.

Kurt Warner helped the Cards score 31 points as he completed 24-of-26 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns.

Nine different Cardinals caught passes in the win, with Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston combining for 17 receptions.

After calling them out a week earlier, Ken Whisenhunt pointed to his team’s offensive line as the biggest reason for their success last Sunday.

"I was happy with our offensive line," Whisenhunt told reporters, "but I think I'm going to stay mad at them. It seemed like we played a little bit better when I was angry at them last week, so I think we'll try to keep that same mentality going."

The line will once again be key against the Colts outstanding pass rush lead by Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.

Manning mastery

Peyton Manning orchestrated another fourth quarter comeback Monday night in Miami, and he’s obviously the Cardinals’ biggest concern heading into Sunday’s matchup.

Kurt Warner gave the Colts superstar high praise earlier this week.

“Three-fourths of the battles in this business is knowing where you need to go with the football and doing it quickly enough that you can react to what a defense does,” Warner told the media. “Peyton does it as well as anybody.”

The Cardinals defense should be well-adjusted to the no-huddle after watching Warner and company run a similar offense in practice. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis feels it gives his team a distinct advantage.

“If there was a (training) camp to be in this year to prepare for Peyton, it would have been ours,” Davis said.

Trends and things

The Colts have thrived in the role of small underdogs in recent seasons, going an incredible 12-2-1 ATS the last 15 times they’ve been dogged by a field goal or less.

They’ve also been traditionally strong starters, posting a 15-7-1 ATS record in their last 23 September contests.

The Cardinals have been at their best when laying points, a solid 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games as a favorite.

Like Indianapolis, Arizona has also enjoyed recent success in September, covering in seven of their last 10 games.

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