Denver v Indianapolis predictions & NFL tips: Points may be hard to come by

Free NFL tips, best bets and analysis for Denver Broncos v Indianapolis in Week Five on Friday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Action & Main Event, 1.15am Friday

Best bet

Under 43.5 total match points
1pt 5-6 Ladbrokes

Match preview

The Colts head to Denver to take on the Broncos on Thursday Night Football, and it’s fair to say that both of these teams have underperformed so far this season.

The Colts are sat on a 1-2-1 record despite having had a fairly soft start to the season, and bizarrely their sole win came against red-hot Super Bowl contenders Kansas City.

As for the Broncos, they are 2-2 but their offence has looked poor and they have been handed a huge blow after running back Javonte Williams was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Both teams added new quarterbacks in the off-season, with Matt Ryan joining Indianapolis and Russell Wilson moving to Denver, but neither has been able to deliver. Ryan has struggled to make use of his receiving weapons and looks lost in the offence. He has attempted the second-fewest deep passes this season from starting quarterbacks.

As for running back Jonathan Taylor, he has found it difficult to build on last year’s phenomenal season and is now dealing with a bad ankle.

The Colts must now go up against a red-hot Broncos defence that is the main reason why the team has a 2-2 record. Denver have allowed just one touchdown at home this season and should make things incredibly difficult for Ryan and the Indy offence to move the chains.

The Broncos’ offence has failed to score more than 16 points in three of their four games this season and play at one of the slowest paces in the NFL. Now they are going up against an Indianapolis defence that has allowed the 5th-fewest drives to end in a touchdown or red-zone appearance.

Thursday night games have already become notorious this season for being low-scoring affairs, and this one fits the bill to follow suit.

The lowdown

Venue Empower Field at Mile High

Surface Grass

Weather Partly cloudy, 17C

Key stat The Colts have covered the spread in four of their last five games as an underdog.

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