Kickoff: Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Line: Denver -7.5, Total: 55.5

The Broncos’ road to Super Bowl redemption begins with a Sunday night showdown against the Colts in Week 1.

The 2013 regular season ended with Denver Broncos atop the AFC West and tied for the league’s best record at 13-3. Peyton Manning led his team to the Super Bowl, but the game didn’t play out the way they thought it would. Denver was beat down 43-8 by the Seahawks and that loss resulted in plenty of offseason changes. The Indianapolis Colts, on the other hand, just have their goals set on continuing to improve behind their franchise QB Andrew Luck. They should be able to win the AFC South again this season, regardless of whether or not they improve on their 11-5 record from a year ago. The last time these teams met 11 months ago, the Colts spoiled Manning's return to Indy by defeating the Broncos 39-33 as 6.5-point underdogs in Indianapolis. That win improved the Colts to 9-3 (SU and ATS) when playing the Broncos since 1992. But John Fox is 16-5 ATS as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 point as the coach of Denver. One key player for each team in this game is suspended -- OLB Robert Mathis for Indy and WR Wes Welker for Denver -- and the only significant injury is Broncos LB Danny Trevathan (leg) who is out indefinitely.

Will the Broncos be able to cover this big spread? For the answer, connect to NFL Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and playoffs. During the 2013 campaign, the experts combined for a 52% ATS success rate in NFL Best Bets, highlighted by Brian's 60% ATS mark (41-27-6). Scott had a 54% ATS accuracy (36-31-3) on NFL Best Bets, while Gary was 53% ATS (26-23-3). Scott also thrived with his NFL Totals, finishing at 56% (40-31), capped off by a perfect 5-0 run in the postseason.

The Colts have become a playoff team a lot faster than many imagined when they lost Peyton Manning to free agency just a few years back. Andrew Luck was just what this team needed and he has turned Indy into a playoff team that is on the verge of being able to make deep playoff run. Last season, Luck threw for 3,822 yards with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Denver’s weakness on defense is defending the pass, so it’s a good chance for the Colts to open up the playbook and let Luck do his thing. This team often relies too much on its running game, especially since the acquisition of Trent Richardson last season. Richardson has a career average of 3.3 yards per carry and is likely in what will be a make or break year. The Colts have improved defensively over the past two seasons. Last year, they allowed just 231.9 yards per game through the air (13th in NFL) but they will need to improve their pass rush. They allowed 125.1 yards per game on the ground (26th in NFL) last year and that number will need to get better in the 2014 season.

The Broncos are a star-studded squad that dominated the rest of the league last season until they met their match in the Super Bowl. Seattle exposed the Broncos’ defense and had them re-evaluating themselves in the offseason. Denver allowed 254.4 yards per game through the air (27th in NFL) and 101.6 yards per game on the ground (8th in NFL) last season. The passing yards were a bit inflated because teams needed to throw late often when they were getting blown out. The Broncos saw the Super Bowl beatdown as a sign that they needed to get more talent on the defensive side of the ball, and they did just that by acquiring DE DeMarcus Ware, CB Aqib Talib and SS T.J Ward. When they get themselves fully healthy, opposing offenses will be afraid of this matchup. Denver will also return the league’s best offense in 2014. Peyton Manning is healthy and back at it after a season in which he shattered league records with 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns, while tossing only 10 interceptions in 2013. His offense will now feature second-year pro Montee Ball as the workhorse running back. Ball was a force in college and should be able to make up for the production lost with Knowshon Moreno heading to Miami. New WR Emmanuel Sanders will be targeted often in place of Eric Decker, who signed a big deal to play for the Jets.