The Indianapolis Colts extended one of the most impressive runs of regular-season success in NFL history, capturing a playoff berth for the 12th time in 13 seasons. The Cincinnati Bengals are no slouch in that department either, making their fourth-straight playoff appearance and fifth in their last six.
However, the buck has stopped there for a Bengals team that still hasn't won a playoff game since a 41-14 AFC Wild Card game victory over the Houston Oilers (!) on January 6th, 1991.
Records:
Cincinnati: 10-5-1
Indianapolis: 11-5
Last Meeting: Cincinnati defeated Indy 42-28 in 2013 (regular season).
Cincinnati Outlook:
Fair or not, all eyes rest on Bengals QB Andy Dalton and his run of horrid playoff luck to start his NFL career.
Dalton is 0-3 in his first three postseason appearances, and is a loss to the Colts away from tying Warren Moon for the most opening-round playoff losses by any NFL quarterback.
"Winning in general is how quarterbacks are judged," he said during his weekly news conference, via AZCentral.com. "If you win a lot in the regular season but you haven't won a lot in the postseason, then they're going to say that you couldn't do something."
WR AJ Green has been ruled out of Sunday's contest with a concussion, so expect a steady dose of rookie RB Jeremy Hill as head coach Marvin Lewis attempts to take some pressure off Dalton. Hill led all rookie running backs this season in yards (1,124) and rushing TDs (nine), and is just the third first-year player in NFL history to post at least four games of 140 rushing yards or more, joining Eric Dickerson (1983) and Curtis Martin (1995).
Indianapolis Outlook:
The Indianapolis Colts are ready to take their place amongst the NFL elite once again, and for that to happen, budding superstar QB Andrew Luck will likely have to carry them there.
Luck accounted for just under 77% of the Colts' total yardage output in the regular season, passing for 4,761 yards and rushing for 273 for 5,034 of the team's 6,506 total yards altogether.
So, it's no surprise that even the Bengals players are resigned to what they're going to see on Sunday.
"Suppressing Andrew Luck is going to be kind of hard," Bengals safety Reggie Nelson said to reporters. "He always starts off kind of slow and the scary thing is, he can always get his team going."
Andrew Luck in a rhythm is death on opposing defenses. Whether he can sustain such a run for a full month of playoff football remains to be seen.
What to watch for:
Neither defense posted a top-ten ranking in either passing yards or rushing yards allowed this year, but the Colts' pass defense has shown flashes of dominance at times in 2014.
If Indianapolis' secondary can stifle Dalton early, don't be surprised if the Colts start stacking seven and eight in the box and daring the young QB to beat one-on-one coverage.
Not to overstate Dalton's impact on this game, but how he handles adversity in this one will play a huge role in whether Cincy wins or loses.
Prediction: Indianapolis wins 31-24
It's hard to pick the Bengals on the road in this one, with the dome sure to be shaking under the weight of a sea of Colts supporters. Both Dalton and Luck are looking to take the next step in these playoffs, but home-field advantage and the Bengals' loss of AJ Green (and, well...Andrew Luck) should be enough for Indy to advance.
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