Betting on the NFL preseason can be a fun but confusing experience for some football fans. Every preseason delivers a team or two that catches everyone by surprise. The biggest question that those teams need to answer is whether they can improve on their efforts the following season. The Detroit Lions were one of the surprises of last season, as no-one really expected too much of them after starting the season without Calvin Johnson, who had unexpectedly announced his retirement. The Lions ended up going 9-7 and booking a Wild Card spot, although they ended up falling to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs. Let’s take a close look at their NFL betting odds and stats over the past 3 seasons to see if we can get some clues as to how this one might go.
Things were not quite as rosy for the Indianapolis Colts, as they failed to put together any sort of consistency, ending the season at 8-8. Let’s not forget that this has been a team with Super Bowl aspirations during the Andrew Luck era. Both of these teams believe they can reach the playoffs this year, and we will get out first look at them on Saturday afternoon when they hook up for a preseason tilt at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The Colts have a high-powered offense, but still only went 9-7-0 O/U last season, taking them to 26-24-1 over the past 3 years. Perhaps a little surprisingly, it was the UNDER that prevailed more often than not when the Colts played at home, with the O/U record set at 9-16-0 since 2014.
A Closer Look at the Detroit Lions vs. Indianapolis Colts NFL Preseason Odds
When: Saturday, August 13 at 1:30 PM EST Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis TV: NFL Network Radio: Sirius XM Radio Stream Option: NFL Game Pass Odds: Detroit Lions -1Straight Up Stats
With Detroit finishing 9-8 after losing in the playoffs last season, they followed a rather familiar pattern of being around .500 over the past 3 seasons. Their SU record during that time was 27-23, although they were just 9-15 on the road during that run. Since this game is listed as a pick-em play, there is no clear favorite here. As an away favorite, Detroit were 2-3 in the past 3 seasons, while also going 7-12 as an away underdog. Last season’s .500 record was disappointing for a Colts team that has gone 29-22 SU over the past 3 seasons. They had a solid 15-10 home record during that stretch, which was broken down in the following way: they were 14-7 as a home favorite, and 1-3 as the home underdog. I think the edge would need to go to the Colts here based on these stats.NFL Preseason Week 2 Sure Winners
Point Spread Stats
Again, with this game listed as a pick play, you are essentially looking at no spread to be covered, but let’s still take a look at how both these teams have performed in that regard over the past 3 seasons. Detroit made a habit of playing close games last season, going 8-9-0 ATS, which took their 3-year record to 23-27-0. The Lions went 10-14-0 ATS when playing on the road during this time period. Indianapolis went 7-8-1 ATS in the 2016 season, which took their 3-year record to 27-22-1. As you can see by these stats, they dropped off a little in the covering department last season. At home, the Colts went 13-11-1 ATS over the past 3 seasons, which is not entirely convincing for a team that was good for 2 of those 3 years.OVER/UNDER Stats
The O/U for this game is set at 37 points. The Lions found themselves in a lot of tight defensive struggles last season, so no real surprise that they went 6-11 in the O/U. This is consistent for Detroit, as they have gone 20-30 O/U in the past 3 seasons, including going 6-18-0 on the road, which was the worst record in the league if you like playing the OVER.
The Colts have a high-powered offense, but still only went 9-7-0 O/U last season, taking them to 26-24-1 over the past 3 years. Perhaps a little surprisingly, it was the UNDER that prevailed more often than not when the Colts played at home, with the O/U record set at 9-16-0 since 2014.
