Tonight, at 7 p.m. ET, Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts (2-1) travel to Cincinnati for a match-up with Andy Dalton and the Bengals (2-1) at Paul Brown Stadium in both team's preseason finales. The game can be live streamed here. Colts fans can access the game on WIBC (1070 AM) while Bengals fans can do the same on WCKY (1530 AM).
Though most starters won't play long, Indianapolis looks to expand on its current two-game winning streak after defeating the Cleveland Browns 27-6 last Saturday at home while the Bengals look to bounce back from a Week 3 24-18 loss to the Cowboys last week in Dallas. Tonight will be the final tune-up for both teams as the Colts will open up the regular-season Sept. 8 at home against the Oakland Raiders while the Bengals host the Chicago Bears.
Luck will look to lead Indianapolis to another successful season this year and hopes to avoid any second-year hiccups that may arrive. Luck had a great rookie campaign, leading the Colts to an 11-5 record last season and a second place finish in the AFC South. Though the Colts lost Luck's very first NFL playoff game in a 24-9 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis has a promising future in Luck, who the team drafted No.1 overall in 2012.
Luck, 23, went 339-for-627 for 4,374 yards with 23 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, and hopes to expand on that this season with the Colts. While the team's offense is strong, it will have to bounce back from lackluster defensive play in 2012 that saw the team finish 29th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed and 21st in passing yards allowed. Dwight Freeney has departed for the San Diego Chargers, and the Colts will look to fill the void with cornerback Greg Toler and safety LaRon Landry.
One negative on the Colts offense, according to head coach Chuck Pagano, is that Luck has been running too much in preseason games.
"He's running way too much," Pagano said after the Colts latest preseason victory according to NFL.com. "I know that. He's running way too much. We've got to do a better job of keeping him clean."
The Bengals, meanwhile, are looking to make the playoffs for the third consecutive year for the first time in franchise history. After going 10-6 last year in the regular season, the team suffered a similar fate to the Colts as Cincinnati lost in the wildcard round 19-13 to the Houston Texans.
Cincinnati is the subject of HBO's Hard Knocks this preseason as cameras have followed them throughout training camp and through each preseason game, and the team is expected to be pretty good this year.
The fate of the Bengals weighs on the shoulders of Dalton, who will hope to make some more positive strides in his third season under center. The Bengals have made the playoffs in each of Dalton's two previous years at signal caller for the team. Last year, Dalton went 329-for-528 for 3,669 yards with 27 touchdowns and 16 picks while boasting a 62.3 completion percentage.
Where the Colts have struggled on defense, the Bengals are the exact opposite. Their strong defense ranked sixth in yards against a year ago. If Dalton can turn on the offense and the Bengals can continue to play solid defensively, this could be a very good year for Cincy.
The Colts and Bengals both are looking for their young quarterbacks to lead them a step further than they did last year, and to bounce back from respective wildcard losses.
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