The Colts came through with a win Sunday over the San Diego Chargers at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts suffered a rocky first half, in which Andrew Luck was intercepted in the red zone and then later in the half was tackled for a loss, and fumbled the ball which Charger lineman Caraun Reid picked up and ran for a 61 yard score. The Big Blue got down to business in the second half. The Colts defense, bolstered by the return of four starters from the injured reserve, put a lid on Phillip Rivers and the Charger offense. With 1:16 left in the game, Luck teamed up with T. Y. Hilton on a 63 yard touchdown pass for the go-ahead score. The Colts hung on to take a 26-22 win.
To say that the Colts needed this win is an understatement. In the Bronco loss, the Horseshoe looked utterly hapless on both sides of the ball. Luck had one of his worst games against the Denver defense, so his bounce back was well timed. The offensive line played better but the Charger defense is not as daunting as the Bronco defense was. The Colts have a streak going for themselves. It has been 53 games since a Colts running back has produced a 100 yard rushing game. In a 2012 game at Houston, Vic Ballard ran for 105 yards on 18 carries. Ahmed Bradshaw got 95 yards on 18 carries against the 49ers in a September 2013 game. This doesn’t count playoff games, but there haven’t been any 100 yard games there either. Both Frank Gore and Robert Turbin rushed for touchdowns Sunday, but don’t look for a trend here. The Colts will always be a pass first team. A credible rushing game would go a long way toward taking the pressure off of No. 12 to move the offense, but the Colts have not seen fit to invest heavily in the rushing game. Frank Gore is the active leading rusher among the current NFL runners but at age 33 how much does he have left in the tank? Particularly with an offensive that can’t open holes for him to run through.
The Colts journey to London, England this week. They will play the Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday at Wembley Stadium. The game will be seen here at 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The Jags are 0-3 after what seemed to be a productive off-season. The Jags looked to be poised for a run at the AFC South championship and the playoffs, but right now they are the same old losing team they have been for a while. They do seem to have given Andrew Luck a hard way to go so it could be an interesting game.
Arnold Palmer Has Passed
One of the legends of American professional sports passed this weekend. Arnold Palmer was an icon in golf and a role model for professional athletes to conduct themselves with the public and the media. A gentleman and sportsman in the truest sense of the word, Palmer first came to preeminence when television started broadcasting golf tournaments in the mid-1950s. He really was the first TV sports superstar. He took golf from an elitist game for the well-to-do and helped make it a sport for the working man and everyday Joe. A good looking, humble, and soft spoken guy he was a crowd favorite and “Arnie’s Army” of fans was always around to support him and cheer him on. Palmer was among the first athletes to publicly encourage and promote a healthy lifestyle and he worked with kids to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits. He was a poplar commercial spokesman, endorsing everything from orange juice, life insurance, tires, lawn and garden equipment, and of course golfing equipment and attire. His line of shirts and sweaters was a number one seller at Sears n the 1960s.
Arnold Palmer was nicknamed the King of Golf. He was also an avid pilot for over 50 years, retiring from flying in 2011. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009. The Arnold Palmer Cup is a yearly competition between American college golfers and European college golfers and started in 1997. Palmer was a partner in a California vineyard and winery that produced Arnold Palmer Wines. Palmer liked to mix ice tea with lemonade and had it made up for himself when he was on tour. Others started asking for “that Arnold Palmer” drink and so it came to be known as the Arnold Palmer among bartenders everywhere. Arnold Palmer was born Sept. 19, 1929 in Latrobe, Penn. He died last Sunday, Sept. 25 in Pittsburgh. He was 87 years old.
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