Thursday Night Football picks and live discussion: Colts at Broncos

Thursday Night Football between the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos kicks off Week 5 in the NFL. The Broncos are currently 3.5-point favorites according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

This is an open thread for game chat.

As we do each week, some of the BTB writers pick games using Tallysight. Below are our picks for Thursday night and the reasons why.

Dave Halprin - In a battle of aging veteran QBs, take Russell Wilson and homefield advantage. Broncos are the pick.

David Howman - The Broncos-Colts matchup has all the makings of some bad football. Neither team has really started to gel with their new quarterback yet, and Denver just lost Javonte Williams for the year. But with this game being played in the high elevation of Denver on a short week, give me the Broncos.

Brian Martin - This Thursday Night Football matchup between the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts is all about injuries and how each team navigates around those injuries. The Broncos seem better equipped to overcome those hurdles and have the home-field advantage. Because of that, I’ll take the Broncos at home in a close one.

Tony Catalina - Thursday Night features two banged up teams desperate to get it going. Both down their top running backs and both have newly brought in QBs not playing their best football. It’ll be an interesting matchup because of the urgency both teams may feel about needing a win. I think the Broncos have the better QB and are a healthier team, give me Denver to find a way to get the W.

Matt Holleran - With both teams coming into this game pretty banged up, I’m simply going with the better quarterback. Russell Wilson has not gotten off to a great start in Denver, but he’s a better player than Matt Ryan at this point of his career. With Jonathan Taylor out and both teams on a short week, give me the Broncos at home here.

RJ Ochoa - The Indianapolis Colts spent all offseason throwing Carson Wentz under the bus and blaming him for their flaws last season. Wentz is by no means perfect, but we are seeing how many total problems the Colts have had for a while. They love to remind people how difficult it has been to get over the Andrew Luck retirement of a few years ago... this team is not good in any way. The Broncos aren’t either, but they are not the Colts.

Tom Ryle - Two teams that are kinda going nowhere, in a division that has no impact on the Cowboys, and I have a very poor idea what to think here. However, of the two retread quarterbacks, I think more highly of Russell Wilson. Denver is a better place for home field advantage than most as well. So I think this one will be close, low scoring, but a Broncos win.