AFC Division Leaders Clash In Week 14 As Colts Visit Bengals

The Colts and Bengals each sit at 8-4 after winning crucial games in week 13. The Bengals traveled to San Diego and won 17-10 to move them two games ahead of the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North. The Colts hosted the Tennessee Titans in an AFC South matchup and handed them a 22-14 loss. The win moved the Colts lead in the division to three games with four games remaining.

Luck and the Colts offense will have their hands full this week, as they go against a Bengals defense that ranks eighth against the pass with 213.8 yards a game and eight against the run with 101.1 yards per game. The Bengals defense has held their opponents to under 20 points in eight of their first 12 games this season including the New England Patriots.

If the Colts want to win this game they will need Luck to play better than in his last four games in which he has thrown two touchdowns against five interceptions. In his last two games Luck has completed only a little over fifty percent of his passes, a stat that will need to improve if they want to beat the Bengals in week 14. In his second year in the league this will be Luck’s first appearance against the Bengals.

For the Bengals they will need Andy Dalton to protect the ball as he has struggled in his last four games throwing nine interceptions including three in each of the Bengals back to back losses. In his career Dalton is 1-0 against the Colts as he completed seventy-eight percent of his passes for 264 yards and one touchdown. The Bengals also need to continue to run the ball to take the pressure off of Dalton. If you look at their last four games in the two games, they asked Dalton to throw over 50 times they lost each game. The two games the Bengals won he threw 23 attempts against the San Diego Chargers and 27 times against the Cleveland Browns.

The Colts currently hold the three seed over the Bengals due to their winning percentage against teams in the AFC conference. After the Bengals the Colts have games remaining against the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars to end the season. For the Bengals they finish up after the Colts with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens at home to finish up the 2013 NFL Season.