Colts (0-3) at Buccaneers (2-1), 8:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN
Line: Buccaneers by 10
The sad spectacle of the Colts’ effort to replace Peyton Manning with the aged and the unprepared has overshadowed the fact that their special teams are much worse than their offense.
Punt returner Blair White has one return, for 2 yards, and three fair catches. The Colts’ punt coverage unit, meanwhile, has allowed a 79-yard touchdown, and 43- and 37-yard returns. The kickoff and kick coverage units are almost as inept. Even the normally reliable Adam Vinatieri missed a 37-yard field goal in the season opener; the kick may not have mattered much in the 34-7 loss to the Texans, but the Colts could have used the morale boost.
The Colts’ special teams have been bad for years, but it rarely mattered because Manning executed 80-yard drives as easily as he executed 70-yard drives, and allowing long returns is no big deal when your offense can score at any time. Now that the Colts must scratch out wins, every 43-yard return is a major problem.
Special-teams problems are easier to solve than quarterback problems, but the Colts have not done much to address them, perhaps because they are too busy trying to assemble a game plan that Curtis Painter can execute without self-injury.
The Buccaneers are not great offensively, defensively, or on special teams, but they are just good enough to turn a field position edge into a margin of victory. Pick: Buccaneers
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