NFL: Monday Night Football Preview - Indianapolis Colts vs San Diego Chargers

Andrew Luck is 3-0 against West
Coast teams. Photo credit NFL

by Rodney Fisher

This Monday Night Football game will mark the debut of the 2012 #1 pick Andrew Luck to the historic platform. It will also be the debut of both head coaches head-to-head. The Indianapolis Colts take the trip out west to face the San Diego Chargers with an impressive 4-1 record. The Chargers started out well behind the play of a resurgent Phillip Rivers, but ran into some obstacles last week against their division rival Oakland Raiders.


The Colts have had success this season against left coast based teams (3-0). That includes a road win over the San Francisco 49ers 27-7. The success of the Colts great start has not been on the arm of Andrew Luck, the only rank 24th in the league in passing yards, but their rushing attack as been impressive. That is a true accomplishment after losing two starting running backs for the entire season. The are 4th in the league in running ball, averaging 142 yards per game. The early season addition of Trent Richardson as yet to payoff with a 100-yard performance, but he is increasingly getting acclimated to the new offense.

Phillip Rivers will try to outscore the Colts.
Photo credit NFL 

For the Chargers at 2-3, it has been the play of Phillip Rivers in a new offensive system under Mike McCoy. He has a 73.7% completion rate and 13 touchdowns in five games. Injuries to the wide recievers did not slow anything down when you have one of the best NFL tight ends available with Antonio Gates (32 receptions, 438 yards, 2 TDs). They are ranked 5th in the league in passing averaging 311 yards a game. Their rookie OT D.J. Flucker has had a lot to do with that success

The loss last week to Raiders, 27-17, may be a good sign for their Monday Night Football matchup. This season has been a pattern of following up a loss with a win. Both wins were over teams whose strength is their offense. The have not been very good on defense, but have been able to outscore those teams. They will need to do the same if they want to win.

Line: -1 for Chargers

Pick: San Diego to Cover