The Patriots welcome a banged up Indianapolis Colts team to Gillette Stadium on Thursday Night Football. Indianapolis will be without wide receiver T.Y Hilton, right end Jack Doyle and guard Denzelle Good among others.

The Patriots have won eight straight versus the Colts and will look to make it nine in a row tonight. Here at our five keys to the game.

1. Get Edelman Involved: Julian Edelman is back after serving a four game suspension for PED use. Look for the Patriots to try to get Edelman involved early as they try to get him back into a groove.

2. Get Inside Pressure On Luck: Luck doesn’t have much to work with so he will hold the ball longer. The Patriots need to get inside pressure on Luck and force him from the pocket. They must make Luck uncomfortable.

3. Stay With the Ground Game: Sony Michel had a big game last week rushing for 112 yards and a touchdown. Michel gives the Patriots so much needed balance so look for the Patriots to run the ball.

4. Score On The Opening Drive: The Colts are banged up and are prohibitive under dogs. The Patriots should win tonight. That’s why it is imperative that they get off to a good start. Scoring on the opening drive is a good start.

5. No Cheap Scores: The Colts will struggle to score in this game. The Patriots cannot give up any cheap scores especially on special teams. They must force the Colts out of their offensive game plan early and make them play from behind.

Final Prediction: The Patriots will win this game, it’s just a matter of by how much. I say four scores. Patriots 45 Colts 17