t’s the third week of the NFL preseason and the Colts are 1 and 1 in games which actually have little meaning in the outcome or the final score. Preseason is for player evaluation and for players and coaches to put the strategies they are learning to practical use on the field. The Horseshoe finally put Number 12 to work against the Ravens in the first quarter last Saturday night and he looked sharp. He moved the team down the field and made some smart decisions in taking them for a field goal on the opening drive. The Colts themselves are still bothered by concentration problems: Way too many penalties and costly mistakes, plus injuries. The regular season hasn’t started yet and the defensive secondary is already decimated with injuries. The team will have to make it’s first major cuts this coming weekend. There will be some minor surprises as to who goes, but then, there always are.
The Colts signed veteran cornerback Antonio Cromartie to a one year deal to shore up the secondary. Cromartie is 32 years old and last played for the Jets. The 2015 season was not a good one for Cromartie and he was let go by the Jets at the end of it. Cromartie is listed as 6’ 2” and 208 pounds. He was drafted number one by the San Diego Chargers in 2006 after playing college ball for Florida State. He has always been considered a physical, hard hitting corner. He’s played in four Pro Bowls. The Colts are hoping he still has something left in the tank. Cromartie does bring a bunch of emotional baggage along with him. He has fathered at least 12 children with 8 different women. Covering his child support payments is an even bigger issue with the defensive back than covering receivers.
In the meantime, the Colts have to work on play execution and really cutting down on those mental errors. Once the regular season starts that can mean the difference between winning and losing. Time is running out to get ready for the opening regular season game against the Lions. Getting Luck back helps, but getting a winning rhythm down is equally important and time is running out.
Pocono 500 Recap
The rain delayed ABC Supply Pocono 500 was run successfully on Monday, but it was the same old outcome as Will Power won his fourth race of the season in his march toward the 2016 IndyCar Championship title. For 150 of the races 200 laps, Power sat back in fifth or sixth position. In the last fifty laps, Power roared to the front and stayed there to take the checkered flag in his Dallara Chevy. Honda had taken six of the first eight staring positions with Mikhail Aleshin taking the pole. The Russian born driver led much of the race, but in the end he couldn’t hold off Power and had to settle for second place. The driver of the race had to go to Ryan Hunter Reay. Reay crashed his regular car and had to start last in an unqualified backup Dallara Honda for Andretti Racing. As the green flag dropped Reay started roaring by drivers. By the half-way point he was challenging Aleshin for the lead. He was leading, when an electrical malfunction put him a lap down. He came flying back, however, and managed to grab third place and a podium finish.
A scary crash in the pits saw rookie Alexander Rossi make contact with Charlie Kimball as he exited his pit area and caused him to roll over Helio Castroneves as he was exiting his pit. Fortunately, neither Rossi nor Castroneves was seriously hurt although their cars were done for the day. Kimball was able to continue. Rossi, the Indy 500 winner, was having a good racing day, challenging for the lead and running strong on the track. He was disappointed, to say the least.
Power’s win pulled him to within twenty points of leader Simon Pagenaud. Pagenand was not a factor in the race and finished eighteenth. To make it even sweeter, the Australian driver and his wife Liz announced before the race started that they are to become first time parents and Liz is going to have a little boy! Congrats to the Powers.
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